Of Sins and Virtues
by AvedlyTres
Summary: She's tired of waiting for Prince Charming to come and sweep her off her feet but yet here he is, although he isn't here to sweep her off into happily ever after. No, he's whisking her away into the torrents of secrets and mysteries of Sins and Virtues.
1. Who She Used to Be

_Okay so this is my very very first attempt at a story of this sort, so please regard me kindly. Of course constructive criticism is greatly appreciated but bashing, ranting about dislike, telling me you hate the story, character use etc. is most definitely not needed. Remember the golden rule. Other wise enjoy my crazy ideas finally put to use_

_Current song I'm stuck on (has nothing to do with the story, just thought I'd spread the word on some not very well-known music): Trip - Heldley_

_This is an IchigoRukia thing but includes other couples (HitsuHina, Rangiku and Gin) and many other Bleach characters._

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Bleach (Or Hedley) or any of it's characters.**

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시작

"I'm not going to be an old prude!!" she proclaimed loudly, finally shaking herself out of her earlier stupor. She turned on heel and began the walk back.

It wasn't possible that she was just completely unlovable and forced to live a loveless life on a downward spiral to loneliness, was it? No, she furiously shook her head; she was just waiting for the right guy to sweep her off her feet. The kind of guy that's read about in the stories, charming, kind, protective and most of all drop- dead gorgeous. That kind of guy does exist right?

하루

Rukia wouldn't say she was anything too fantastical to look at, but on the other hand didn't consider herself just part of the room's décor either. She was slim yes, but not so slim that she disappeared from sight when turned, so why did she feel invisible sometimes? Her eyes were shocking, her skin porcelain smooth and her face flawless but for some reason she would always be regarded with as much concern as the next lamp, umm person.

Her routine life had begun to lose its thrill, as she began going out with friends less and less and her friends began calling her less and less. A cycle began, wake, school, home, sleep and of course wash, rinse and repeat.

She pulled herself out of bed begrudgingly and stumbled her way to her shower. Her habit was to wake up extra early, shower, get dressed, then go back to sleep for another hour or so before breakfast and school. It was like two nights of sleep in one and gave her something to look forward to after bathing.

Breakfast was so uneventful, she didn't even notice what she ate and only realized she had even consumed anything after she had begun walking to school.

루틴

Rukia sat in her desk, her dark as night hair framing her face and blocking it from view as she looked down. She was early, but she always was, to be otherwise always made her nervous.

Friends began chatting, conversations brewed and laughter was heard, none of it involving her. She wasn't popular, she wasn't the class clown, not the nerd, nor the weird, scary person everyone would vote "most likely to be in jail" no, she was just there.

Despite not falling in a category she was just like any other girl in many ways, one of them being she envied other girls. One girl that stirred the envy, Inoue Orihime, sat a few seats ahead of Rukia, so Rukia everyday for hours, on end, saw what she could never be. Orihime was beautiful, rich, athletic, out-going and heck she even had some brains that weren't half bad. The trait Rukia envied most though, was her out-going nature. Rukia was beyond shy, although she had never really considered herself shy, until her friend pointed it out, which caused her only to become more self-conscious. She would always let the spontaneous moments, for her to speak out, pass, later regretting it and thinking 'what if… what if…. What if…?'

She let out a loud sigh, blowing her bangs skyward (or ceiling ward, right?)

"You'll sigh away all your happiness that way," a voice said causing her to look up.

"Where have I heard that before Kaien? Nothing original in that noggin of yours?" Rukia said turning in her seat and flashing a smile to the boy as he sat down at the desk behind hers.

"You didn't like that one? Well how about stop your sighing because . . . your breath stinks and all you're doing when you sigh is polluting our o' so precious supply of fresh breathing air," he said with a mock serious face. "Pollution is a very serious matter that has yet to be solved . . ."

"Okey okey I get it," Rukia smiled cutting him off. "I think I preferred your first one better."

"Oh, well how about . . ." but he doesn't get to finish as the teacher enters clearing his throat. Kaien looked up and Rukia turned back around in her seat facing forward.

The teacher cleared his throat again, "Today we will begin the term long project on pollution. Pollution is a very serious matter that has yet to be solved but this term . . ."

Rukia stifled a laugh and began to copy the notes that were quickly filling up the board.

행복

"Eavesdropped on your father's lecture practice again did you Kaien?" Rukia laughed during the break in between classes.

"Not purposely, but you should try living in my house for a day without memorizing at least part of his lecture," Kaien grinned leaning back in his chair. "There is no quiet place, plus his voice carries, it sounds like he's trying to lecture the people from the nursing home."

Kaien was the youngest son of the English teacher and despite his relaxed demeanor was a very diligent student. Not that he could slack off though, when his father was his teacher and expected Kaien to exceed to the same levels as his two older brothers had.

Rukia had meet Kaien in junior high and one day had discovered her true feelings for him. Once they had entered high school Kaien's popularity shot up due to his success in kendo not to mention he was always number one in class rankings. Despite always being number two, Rukia had yet to achieve any increase in noticability, especially in comparison to Kaien's.

Kaien leaned back further in his chair closing his eyes as if he was resting. Rukia watched him out of the corner of her eye. Yes, she had a crush on Kaien but she was over it . . . right? She would spend at least a few hours each week in a mental workout of convincing herself that she was indeed over Kaien. Once she realized that she was indeed having the dreaded inner turmoil again, she would then slip into the phase of mentally scolding herself for even thinking about her feelings regarding Kaien.

Rukia sighed 'I need to get my life back in gear and a gear that doesn't revolve around Kaien and what _he's_ doing, and what _he_ likes, and what _he _wears, and what homework _he's_ done and oh, God I really am a bit obsessed aren't I? Well more than a bit, argh why am I even having these thoughts?'

Kaien watched curiously as Rukia rolled her eyes and huffed under her breath about something. "Everything okay in there?"

Rukia's head snapped up, his voice breaking her out of her internal, mental beat down. "Er yeah I was just thinking about all the work I had to do, I mean home work, not that I'm trying to take your number one spot or anything, number two is good too, but I don't mean that I won't try, cause I mean you should always try your best but studying is always good right, and I think I actually might be ahead in my studying in fact, so I'm going to do some extra research on gourds!" she was practically yelling at the end of her little speech and slightly blue due to the lack of oxygen and having just blurted out a heck load of completely useless information in under five seconds flat.

Rukia blushed 'Cue the looks of disbelief and humor, I have just set up their introduction,' she thought to herself.

"Um gourds?"

Rukia mentally cursed herself 'What did I just say again? I just opened my mouth and noise came out. Wait, did he just say gourds?! When did I say that, or did I even say that, is he changing the subject to spare me? Agh, why can't I ever say anything clever and witty around him? Aaaah but why do I even care in the first place?' Rukia entered her mental smack down again forgetting to answer Kaien.

Kaien paused "Umm never mind Rukia" he said as he patted the back of a girl he thought at the moment just was lacking order in her duck line-up. 'If she can even remember what a line is' he thought to himself. 'Must be because we have that test coming up.'

조롱박

"Add another mark on the side of why Kaien should not like Rukia," she grumbled walking to go to lunch. "I think that side is dominating too much, a game is no fun if one team keeps winning, so how about some slack?" she muttered to no one in particular as she pulled out her bento.

She ate alone in her classroom, at her desk during lunch. Kaien never ate with her, he would always eat with whoever was his girlfriend at the time, and between girlfriends there was always the popular kids. Today was a girlfriend day, Rukia watched as she pulled him from the classroom shortly after lunch had started. Orihime was his longest relationship to date and he had told Rukia she was "the one." Rukia never saw it coming, but one day they didn't even know each other and the next they were dating. All because she had confessed to him.

Rukia had confessed to Kaien once too, many years ago. He had looked shocked and, after what seemed like an eternity, had awkwardly declined. Rukia hadn't let her pain show, laughing it off and pretending to sigh in relief, saying that she was glad he had turned her down because she had only asked him out as a bet with her friends. Things had been strange after that and their friendship had only recently began to return to normal.

"Hey Debby-the-downer what's got you thinking to hard?" a girl asked pulling her chair up to Rukia's desk.

"Nothing . . . umm of any importance I was just thinking about all the homework I have to do tonight." Rukia said putting on a fake smile. "Not going out to eat today Momo?"

"Nope I remembered to pack a lunch today," the girl happily exclaimed pulling out her bento. "We can share if you like."

"Ooh okay you can have some of mine too!" Rukia smiled at Momo. Momo was one of Rukia's very close friends. They had never really talked too much but suddenly became closer that year. "Where's Senna?" Rukia asked referring to their usual third wheel.

"Out with the boys, where else?" Momo rolled her eyes. Whereas Rukia and Momo had never had a boyfriend, Senna was too damn popular with the boys for her own good. She never had an "official boyfriend" but there was always one willing to be at her beck and call. They both sighed at the same time catching each other's eye and laughing.

매화

"Have fun with all the "super hot" guys during practice," Momo practically yelled to Rukia at the end of school, causing Rukia to blush red and hurry her way to the pool.

This was Rukia's second year on the swim team and Momo thought it funny that the sport with the most revealing uniform had the most unattractive guys on it. Swimming had never been very popular at their school and it definitely didn't help that most of the guys would prefer to get their game on, on the courts rather than worrying about their sexuality in the pool. But that actually suited Rukia just fine. Nothing to distract her from her workout, practice was all work no fun for her.

"So as I hope you all know, which you should because it's on the schedule, we have a swim meet this weekend," her coach began to hash into their heads as practice ended. "Don't be late, get plenty of rest and no we won't be having our group "shave our legs" together fiasco," he said referring to last year's mishap that included thirty swimmers, one tiny bathroom, lots of sharp things and a whole lot of shaving cream. "So rest, stay away from group shaving and don't be late! Dismissed!"

면도 크림

"Don't be late! Don't be late!" where had she heard that before and why was a giant carrot telling her that in the first place. Rukia frowned 'I'm Alice and this is my Wonderland so go away you bossy carrot!'

"Don't be late!"

Rukia sat up in her bed "Crap I'm going to be late!" she practically screamed looking at the clock. "No wait I can make it five minutes is plenty of time!"

Needless to say her coach was not happy with her tardiness but she had made it nonetheless and none worse for the wear.

"You look like crap and a half" Soi Fon, one of the few people Rukia actually talked to on the swim team, said peering at Rukia. "Rough morning or perhaps a rough night?" her eyes twinkled with the suggestive meaning.

"I'm glad I was able to provide entertainment for you but if you don't mind I plan on using the trip up to get some more shut eye," Rukia said grumpily trying to get comfortable.

"God knows you could use it," Soi Fon cheerfully said dodging as Rukia attempted to pounce on her. "Save that energy! I'll wake you when we get there."

Wake her she did indeed, the "when they got there" part, not so much. So by the tenth time Soi Fon had woken Rukia up, Rukia was a bit skeptical, to say the least.

"Okay this time I swear it's the truth," Soi Fon said with a smile making Rukia doubt the statement's credibility.

"Oi Kuchiki can I at least see some attempt at moving from you?" her coach shouted causing Rukia to jump out of her seat. Yep, the coach definitely counted as credible back up.

"Y-yes sir!"

"Good now get to the locker rooms. You're in the first event," the coach said heading to the pool. Rukia threw Soi Fon a dirty glance before gathering her swimming stuff and dashing to the pool.

늦은

Rukia loved backstroke, she was the backstroker of the team. She did backstroke on the relay and an individual backstroke event. Rukia didn't like to brag, but she wasn't varsity for no reason, no matter how sad and small her swim team was, Rukia could hold her own in the pool. She was no feared prodigy but she was by far the fastest on her team.

"Hey Ruk did you see the dandelion over there?" Soi Fon asked, prodding her in the side. "I wouldn't mind some resuscitation from him!"

"You do know that these days they usually have masks for those things?" Rukia smirked but spared a glance to the lifeguard nonetheless. "Hmm looks average from here."

"Average? Ouch, I know you don't wear your glasses when you swim but when did you go completely blind?"

"I didn't say he was bad looking, just not my type but anyways," Rukia said loudly cutting off Soi Fon's retort, "where are we on the order of events right now?"

"One more event!" Soi Fon happily said forgetting the previous conversation and putting on her goggles. "And this event we're in together!"

"You're anchoring the relay?" Rukia asked as they headed to the starting blocks.

"Yep and your starting!"

"I hate this relay."

"Don't be such a parade rainer, it's the last event and it's not like we've got a lot of swimmers to choose from."

"I lost you after rainer, is that even a word?"

"Yes!" Soi Fon said raising her arms in exasperation and almost smacking a swimmer from another team. "Just be glad you get to start, I hate anchor."

The whistle blew signaling the start of the event.

"Good luck Rukia," Soi Fon said patting her on the back and pushing her forward towards the blocks.

"You too," Rukia said quietly.

Rukia stood behind the block pulling down her goggles. The four short whistles were blown and she began to step up on the block. Began, but didn't finish due to her slipping once she was at the top.

She fell backwards quickly and shut her eyes tight. She landed hard on her shoulder, cursing as she felt the ground's cruel bite.

"Rukia!" she heard Soi Fon's muffled voice. Her vision faltered and her whole body ached.

"Let me through I'm the lifeguard, let me through!" a flustered voice said. Rukia felt her goggles and cap being pulled off as someone leaned over her. "Hey are you okay?"

Rukia slowly opened her eyes and wished she hadn't as her eyes began to work correctly again. She stared into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. A pair of dark brown, gorgeous eyes stared at her, something in them making her heart race. It was the so called "dandelion" from earlier, and Soi Fon was correct, maybe she did need to have her eyes checked. The man didn't withdraw his gaze as she felt herself begin to blush. She meekly nodded and heard Soi Fon's sigh of relief.

"Does she need CPR? Or how about some mouth-to-mouth action?" Soi Fon said adding to the embarrassment of the moment.

The man continued to look at her, the scowl on his face slightly lessening, his stare increasing her discomfort at their proximity. She could've sworn he began to lean towards her so she hurriedly pushed herself up, accidentally head butting him in the process.

"Soi Fon!" she seethed rubbing her head. " I wasn't even in the water why on earth would I need mouth-to-mouth?"

"You don't need water to drown silly," Soi Fon gleefully smirked. "Perhaps you were drowning in love. But more likely, in your case it was mortification, because that fall was a far from graceful. You looked like that fat seal I saw at the Zoo."

"Thanks," Rukia said gritting her teeth "Well you look like-"

She was interrupted by a fist, lightly thumping her on the head, "Jeez what is your head made out of? I think you caused some brain damage with that deadly cranium of yours."

Rukia turned to retort but was met with the lifeguard, so that was what her head had connected with. "Oh sorry," she mumbled avoiding his eyes.

"Don't worry, just make sure the next time you make someone see stars, its not using that method," he said with a slight smile.

"Thank you very much for all your help," Rukia said bowing her head, partially to help hide her ever-increasing blush. "I'm Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki."

He grabbed her hand, shaking it, "Nice to meet you." And with that he turned and walked away, a smile playing on his lips.

루기아 쿠치키

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_I hope you enjoyed! If it just was too confusing or something let me know. If you want to know the meaning of the Korean words send me a message but don't worry their meaning isn't needed to understand the story._


	2. What Her Friend Saw

_Thanks to those of you who are giving the next part of my story a try! I know that Orihime x Kaien thing is probably super weird but please just bear with it for now. It helps with the whole Rukia x Ichigo x Orihime triangle later. Don't worry **Sim-Chan** part of the triangle will be only one way with the feelings and there will be plenty of other issues that Ichigo and Rukia have to endure, so the triangle won't play a big part._

_I made some minor changes to chapter 1 because I finally got my scattered brain somewhat reassembled, the changes were nothing big though._

_This is in no ways a comforting story for Orihime lovers, so if that applies you might want to stop reading now. Sorry, it's just so you won't hate my guts. So chapter 2 is now up, hope you enjoyed chapter 1!_

_Much thanks to **DeviantHollow23**, my first reviewee!! Review was very nice and definite a smiley face on my day._

_Current song I'm stuck on (has nothing to do with the story, just thought I'd spread the word on some not very well-known music): Number 1 (English Version) - Big Bang_

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, form, smell etc. own Bleach or the characters (or Big Bang)**

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그 다음날

Rukia pulled herself out of bed with difficulty, wincing at the pain in her shoulder. After succeeding in blearily completing a shower and getting herself dressed, despite mild confusion as to which shoe went where, she dragged herself into the kitchen.

Her mind was still stuck on the events of yesterday and the orange headed jerk that had "saved" her. Rukia snorted, 'More like helped humiliate her in front of the entire swimming community of her swim league.'

"Morning Miss Kuchiki," a cheerful voice said snapping her out of her cursing.

Rukia grumbled as the owner of the voice pushed her into a chair, "Nemu, can I have coffee today?"

"It's going to be one of those days?" Nemu said nodding as she walked towards the coffee pot.

Rukia didn't even answer as she glanced up looking around, "So he left already huh?"

Nemu just nodded, "He said something about a meeting overseas and he didn't know when he would return."

Rukia sighed, of course her brother wasn't there, what had she expected? He was the head of the largest luxury hotel line in Japan and had recently begun expanding the business to America. He was very strict in making sure things got done the "right" way, in other words his way, so he would personally go and oversee management at the new hotels, no matter how far away they were.

His whole life seemed to revolve around hotels, in fact they lived in the top of one of nicest hotels in Karakura, owned and manage by her brother of course. Her "home" consisted of two floors, five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a living room, two studies, a dining room, and a very large kitchen. Her bedroom was on the second floor, along with Byakuya's, and occasionally Nemu would spend the night, using one of the spare rooms. Otherwise the only rooms that were ever used wereRukia's room, her bathroom and the kitchen.

One gift that Byakuya had given Rukia to make up for the fact that they lived in a hotel, was to allow her complete ownership of the roof. Rukia had gradually changed the space into a garden, complete with vegetable patch and greenhouse. Byakuya had been true to his word and left her free reign, not that he was ever home to really interfere anyway.

Nemu placed a cup of coffee in front of her along with a letter. Rukia didn't even have to ask whom it was from, her brother always left letters when he was going to be gone for more than two days.

Rukia hadn't seen him face to face in a little over a month. He would return home at ungodly hours of the night, grab a few things, leave Rukia her a note and depart to whatever location required his special brand of assistance. Rukia always assumed that he just didn't want to wake her up when she had school the next day, but deep down she always knew that he was just anti-social.

Rukia opened the letter already guessing what she would find. Inside was an envelope stuffed with money and a brief note telling her to call if there were any emergencies otherwise Nemu would take care of everything. Nemu was Rukia's only other companion in the house. The girl was a few years older than Rukia and worked as their housekeeper to help pay her way through school. Not that the house really needed much cleaning. Rukia didn't think that dust specks wanted to even try and test their luck against Byakuya.

Rukia carefully folded the letter back up, placing the money laden envelope underneath it. She dropped a few sugar cubes into her coffee, giving it a little stir after she added creamer. Nemu sat down next to her, holding out a glass of milk, "You get the usual?"

"Yea," Rukia said ignoring the milk, "Need any money? I still haven't spent all the money that he's been leaving for the last few years. It's like he expects that I'm going to need to buy a spaceship to go live on the moon because everyday Armageddon happens."

"Despite the sincerity in your offer, I'm going to pass. He left the money for you and I already get a pretty good paycheck." The glass of milk had gradually begun to inch closer to Rukia's head.

"Do you know where he went?" Rukia asked trying to ignore the glass of milk as Nemu pressed it lightly up against her head. Nemu put her other hand up, her index finger on her chin, in thought as she "unconsciously" rubbed a glass of milk against Rukia's face, as if it wasn't unusual in any sense.

"I think I heard muttering about Hawaii but it could've been kawii because he saw his own reflection." Nemu said pretending not to notice the increasing annoyance at the glass of milk.

"That statement had so many things wrong with it," Rukia said eyeing the milk as Nemu started nudging her head with it. "Nemu what's with the milk?!"

"Oh, Rukia I'm so proud of you! You want to drink milk today?"

"No! That is not what I said! Crap it's late, when did that happen?" Rukia downed her coffee in one go as she ran to the bathroom. Time for some teeth-brushing action, because coffee breath is not pleasant.

"Wait you need your milk to grow up big and strong! Coffee hinders your growth! Hinders!" Nemu shouted as Rukia ran from the bathroom, grabbed her bag and headed out the door.

우유

Rukia lived a short distance from the school, so she walked despite her brother trying to persuade her to let him buy her a car, or a car and a chauffeur. Depending on whether or not she used the elevator or stairs to descend the ten stories to the lobby, the trip to school usually took about five to ten minutes. Today was an elevator day.

Rukia pulled the collar of her jacket up as stepped out into the icy wind. The weather had suddenly turned cold, as characteristics of the winter season began to appear. The walk to school suddenly seemed more daunting. 'Should I be anti-social and go straight to the library or do I even have time for that today?' she mused to herself checking her watch. She walked behind a boy and girl from her school as they held hands, whispering in each other's ears.

Rukia sped up her pace, not wanting to have to watch the scene her whole way to school. She passed them, neither one of them paying her any attention as Rukia practically ran the rest of the way to school. 'To the library it is then,' Rukia said to herself, not wanting to risk having to see any more high school sweet hearts to remind her of her own lack of occupation in that area.

The library had recently been remodeled and now, at two stories provided Rukia with sanctuary when she needed a quiet place to study and think. Another plus, was that Orihime never went into the library, Rukia wondered if that girl even knew where it was.

Once Rukia got to school she immediately noticed something was up. There was a large crowd gathered around the entrance, large crowds usually only equaled a fight or a rather messy, public break up, ending in complete shame for one or both of the parties involved.

Since neither of her friends currently had boyfriends and the fight didn't appear to be between Orihime and Kaien, because Rukia could see them towards the outside of the crowd _holding hands_, she decided to walk by without even bothering to take a look. She wasn't one to get involved in what she considered to be "the high school drama of people lacking in sufficient frontal lobe development."

드라마

"Rukia where were you, I tried calling your phone," Momo said in a demanding voice as she took her seat next to Rukia's. She pulled out her English book slamming it rather brutally on the desk.

"Sorry my phone is on silent, you know, for school," Rukia said feeling bad for Momo's desk but glad that it was the desk rather than her. Momo was known to get violent at times.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't answer, you never do when I call and it takes you hours to reply to text messages. Modern technology not quite meshing with you?" Momo said with mock wonder raising her hands up in an 'oh well' manner. She picks up her own cell phone and brings it very close to Rukia's face, "This smarty talky thing is called a cell phone Rukia. CELL PHONE," she enunciated slowly, opening and closing her phone. "You use it to talk to people but it only works if the person you're calling answers."

"I answer sometimes . . . once in awhile but why did you try calling me anyway, we have our first class together."

"Didn't you see the crowd before school?" Momo said returning to her seat.

Rukia nodded.

Momo rolled her eyes, "And weren't you curious as to what was going on?"

"Not really, I saw it, pondered it, ignored it, forgot it and went to the library instead."

"God you lack a social life."

"Hmmm" Rukia murmured not really wanting to try and fight against the statement. She didn't like losing.

Momo sighed at her friend's apparent lack of worry at what she considered to be a most terrible situation. "Well, you missed the most exciting thing that has ever happened at our school or probably ever will happen."

"You finally decided to buy your own food and stop coming over to my house to eat all of mine?" Rukia asked in mock surprise.

"No fool! It wasn't really an event per say, but more the people involved. I think they're Gods!"

Raised eyebrow and a look of disbelief on Rukia's part, "Really and did they throw lightning or part waters or something?"

"No, no silly, it's the way they look. Absolutely beautiful, like Aphrodite herself or that Greek God Adonis!" Momo said her eyes shimmering in remembrance.

"So they just look like gods, but don't seem to have any godly powers?"

"Being that good looking is a godly power as far as I'm concerned."

"Okay spill, names, appearances, anything," Rukia said after noticing Momo's look. That look hardly ever appeared on Momo's face. Rukia didn't particularly care about super good looking people, besides she already had one that occupied most of her life, but she was curious as to what could be causing Momo such adoration. Rukia could practically see the twinkles surrounding her friends eyes and she didn't want her friend to explode from not being able to vent about what she had witnessed.

"Hmm don't know any names but there's five boys and two girls. All the guys are absolutely gorgeous Rukia! I mean the girls are pretty too but I think some of the guys may be better looking than them. You should feel sad that you missed out. And the only other thing I heard about them is that they all just transferred to this school. Apparently they are one big adopted family or something." Momo babbled on, not noticing the glassy look overtake Rukia's eyes as she started to lose focus on Momo's conversation.

Rukia quirked her eyebrow, "Really good lucking huh?," she mumbled to herself. "I wonder if any of them look like Kaien."

"Any of who?" Kaien said tapping her forehead with his book. Oh the woes of "perfect timing"

"Umm nobody, don't worry it wasn't important," Rukia said trying to remain calm and keep her head.

"Oh how sweet you were thinking of me," Kaien continued sitting down in his desk and stretching his legs forward to tap her chair with his foot. "I know if it was a thought involving me, then it was important."

Rukia's bit back a potential smile and faced forward in her seat, "For your information, since you really want to know, I was wondering if any of those pet boars, that belonged to some crazy guy on the news, looked like you." She said as Momo continued on her monologue oblivious to the fact that she has lost Rukia.

"Hmm what do you think?" Kaien said as he started to make piggy grunty noises. "I think I'd be the best looking boar around."

"And Rukia their cars, they are nice!" Momo said leaning over and slapping a hand on Rukia's desk.

"Who are we talking about Momo?" Kaien said, a little startled that Momo looked slightly crazed.

"These new transfer students that are super good looking!" Momo said starting off on another very very long tangent that mostly involved the use of the word handsome and any related similes.

"Oh the new transfers," Kaien said ignoring Momo. "My dad told me a bit about them."

"So she's telling the truth?" Rukia said turning back around in her seat to face Kaien.

"Well I don't know about the good looking part, but we are getting new transfer students. There's seven of them, I think, and they all just transferred from some school in Tokyo. They're all adopted siblings and their parents are some types of engineers. I think it's like molecular or chemical or something. But from what I could gather, they're all pretty sharp, so I think there might be a new person in the number two spot soon."

"Who, you?" Rukia slyly said, ducking her head slightly as Momo began to twirl in circles, still talking about handsome men.

"No I was referring to you, pudding for brains," Kaien said, ducking in turn as Momo came twirling his way

"Well thank you for "caring" but you should be worried about your spot because I still haven't given up on it," Rukia said in her sugar coated voice.

"Well, on the next-" Kaien was cut off as Momo came swinging back and unconsciously hit the back of his head, smacking his face into the desk.

"Just wait and see," Momo said, stopping her twirling, still oblivious to the boy clutching his nose behind Rukia. "I heard that almost all of them are the same age as us. I wonder if any of them will be in our class!"

"Momo!" the voice came from behind Rukia.

"Eww Kaien what happened to your face?"

아도니스

It turned out that Momo's hopes did indeed come true. Shortly after class started three people filed into the classroom following Kaien's father.

"Class I have an announcement to make, please pay attention to the introductions of our new transfer students," the teacher said stepping back and motioning for the newcomers to introduce themselves.

Rukia didn't pay attention and didn't care if her teacher noticed. She had become too embarrassed at the recognition of a certain dandelion that now stood in the front of her class. She stared, with purpose instead, at the hem of her skirt. Was that really their school uniform? She had never seen in look so good before. The two boys made plain button-up white shirts and grey slacks work.

"Nice to meet you all," said the tall strawberry blond girl stepping forward first. "My name is Rangiku Matsumoto and yes I will gladly share your lunch with you," she said with a wink, causing an eruption of stupid grins on many of the male faces in the classroom. She stepped back clasping her hands in front of her and squeezing her breasts together, the threat of them falling out the front of her shirt becoming more imminent.

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya but I prefer to be called by name last name only," said the youngest looking of the group, stepping forward. Rukia, out of the corner of her eye, saw Momo's rapt attention focused on the male in front of her. Rukia glanced back up at the boy, curious at Momo's evident attraction to him. He was short, and she felt bad about her height, but she thought he was worse off being a boy _and _being super short. And his hair was white, not bleach blond white, but white white, like the snow. He cleared his throat and continued on with his icy voice, "And yes, this is my natural hair color and no, I'd prefer that you did not touch it."

Awkward silence ...

The last boy clears his throat taking a step forward as Hitsugaya returns to standing by Matsumoto, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and I hope that you regard my family and me kindly."

Rukia peeked up at the scowling boy, 'Yes that was most definitely the same boy from the pool.' She blushed remembering their last meeting, 'Well, at least she knew his name now.'

잋이고 커로사키

* * *

_And so he appears, but you already knew he would right?  
Sorry I knew it was kinda a slow chapter, but I'm still hashing out some details that will come later in the story. _

_Good, bad, confusing, annoying? Let me know :)_


	3. When They Showed Up

_Yay chapter 3!!! Sorry for the lack of action and excitement going on but I like to build curiosity. Don't worry I'll try and make something more exciting happen in the next chapter. Thanks to those of you still reading the story._

_I'd just thought I'd get this out of the way now, that I **don't** do lemons. I tried once, proofread it afterwards, felt like an idiot and decided not to try again. Feel free though, to write a lemon using any of the situations I end up putting the characters in. If you really like it you can tell me and I'll list it in the story where it's supposed to occur. There will be hints of "action" but I won't explicitly describe it in detail. Sorry sorry sorry sorry!_

_On a different note, I'm referring to Ichigo as Kurosaki for now because the story is kinda supposed to be from Rukia's perspective, and that's how she sees him for now._

_Sorry Uryu Ishida fans, I'm not referring to him as "not good looking" because I think he's ugly, it's just an important little tidbit that will be further elaborated on later._

_Random song I recommend: Beautiful Love - The Afters_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, The Afters or the IM in any way.**

* * *

가라쿠라 에 오신 것을 환영합다니

Needless to say, class got bit more "interesting" for everyone after the transfer of the new students. "Interesting" meant in this case, that the accessories of the girls became more outlandish in an attempt to gain notice, (they gained notice all right, but it wasn't the good kind) and more students got into trouble for "forgetting" to wear their uniforms to school. Whoever thought it was a good idea to where bright neon feather boas to school, was sorely mistaken.

And the guys on the other hand started to dye their hair in a sad attempt to resemble a certain someone. With each passing day, it became harder to breath due to the sudden increase in the use of perfume and cologne. It got so out of hand that the school threatened to ban use completely if the levels didn't lower. The threat luckily proved effective, as a result causing some people to resort to actually bathing instead of using excess amounts of perfume/cologne to cover up b.o.

Oh, and let's not forget the most interesting part of this whole mess, the transfer students themselves, whom obliviously caused all of the previous listed oddities in behavior to occur in the first place.

Yes, the school had become a better place for all, well almost all, except of course Rukia. It was just her luck that she would be the only one that wouldn't benefit from the transfers. The accessories made her want to gag, the perfume gave her headaches and made her want to gag, their cars almost made her break her resolve on not needing one and to top it all off, Kaien now seemed more determined to keep Orihime after more "competition" had appeared.

It especially irked Rukia's nerves that the dandelion head hadn't even acknowledged her yet. He had seen her, smirked at her, then proceeded to sit down in his desk front of hers, ignoring her for the rest of the day (don't worry, Rukia sits over by the window, so he's not really blocking her view). She had never wanted to cheap shot someone so much in her life before.

Momo, on the other hand didn't seem to mind her seating arrangements. Toshiro Hitsugaya now sat in front of her and Rukia could tell that this would most likely cause a lowering in Momo's class standing. Whenever she looked that direction, Momo was staring at Hitsugaya instead of the teacher.

Rangiku sat at the front of the room, the grey, uniform issued skirt distracting it's share of "lost souls" and the white button down shirt, with it's lack of buttoned up buttons, finishing off the rest.

Despite their immediate popularity, the new transfer students kept to themselves. They already stood out as it was, due to their looks, despite being clad in the same uniforms as everyone else. But they always stuck together, in what Momo called, "a mosh pit of oh-so-good-lookingness," succeeding in only drawing more attention to themselves.

During lunch they would sit in Rukia's classroom in the back corner. Her classroom suddenly became the most popular place to eat. Rukia had tried to start eating lunch elsewhere, but Momo wouldn't budge. Today, sadly was no different.

Kurosaki and Hitsugaya pulled there chairs to a back corner of the room, as the rest of their family showed up, situating themselves on the floor around their brothers. Rukia forced her way back through the crowd that had now assembled in her classroom, pulling Momo with her. "Oh hell no," she cursed, once reaching their desks. Rukia was glaring daggers as she surveyed the idiot that her plopped herself down into one of their chairs in the short span of five seconds that Rukia had been gone to go stop Momo from following Hitsugaya.

"Excuse me but would you kindly remove yourself from that seat, unlike you we actually happen to be in this class, and have a reason to be in here," Rukia's fake voice put to use. The girl looked up from ogling Kurosaki's family to glare at Rukia.

"Just sit on the floor then," came the snide reply.

"Momo," Rukia said, her voice losing it's sweetness, "sit in my chair," she said pushing her friend into her seat and dropping their lunches into her lap. She went and stood between the invading girl and the people she was "indiscreetly" staring at and by "indiscreetly" I mean practically groping with her eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me freak," the girl said, "Out of all the places to stand you have to stand there?"

Rukia didn't answer, instead, turning to look at the ceiling as if she had nothing better to do. Rukia wasn't one to throw the first hit, whether this girl wanted a verbal or physical fight, Rukia would happily comply if given the right incentive.

"Excuse me, you short idiot, do you know who I am? My daddy is a name brand designer, a de-sign-er, he designs clothes for me that you could only dream of touching!"

'Oh right,' mental light bulb for Rukia. She thought she heard had heard something about this girl before, 'What was that girl's last name again? Something -uno, buno, duno, funo ...'

"This is your last warning," the girl with the designer daddy warned but to no avail, Rukia was completely absorbed in trying to remember the last name of this supposedly famous designer. "That's it you freaking half-pint, midgety, dumpy, little, squaty bitch!"

"Ah," Rukia said holding up her index finger. She turned and pointed her finger at the girl, "Casuno? New this year?" She stopped, viewing the scene that now met her eyes. Apparently the girl had decided that she was indeed going to punch Rukia's lights out but her fist was being held in place by a delicate hand.

One of Kurosaki's sisters held the girl's fist, firmly clasped in her own hand, a few inches from Rukia's face. Senna was behind the girl-with-the-designer-daddy and stood on a desk, trapping the girl's head in a headlock. All eyes in the classroom were on the scene, even the transfer students were watching with evident interest.

"I hate people that attack an unprepared opponent," Kurosaki's sister said releasing the girl's hand and returning back to her family.

Rukia, wondering if thanks were in order, sputtered out a "Thank you," to her retreating back. Kurosaki's sister merely raised her hand in reply.

"Casuno," Senna jumped down from the desk jerking the girl's head down in the process. "I've heard of that brand. I bought a pair of high heels your dad designed and hated them. I snapped the heels off, burned them and threw them in a lake, just so I wouldn't have to see them anymore." She started to drag the girl by her head, out into the hallway, "I'll be back Ruk, so save me some lunch."

Rukia nodded, glad as the attention of the room began to gradually shift off of her. She felt an intense gaze and looked up catching Kurosaki's captivating stare. He smirked at her and turned back to his lunch.

"Rukia, let's remember to not space out when provoking girl's running on only the need to have sex," Senna sighed as she returned, dusting off her hands. The girl had been disposed of and was now either in a hospital or lying in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't wise to mess with Senna, who had rumored connections with the Yakuza.

"Thanks," Rukia smiled handing Senna some lunch, "what did she do exactly?"

"She tried punching you in your head, what the hell you were doing, I can only guess. You should really be thanking Yoshino over there, she stopped the punch," Senna indicated to Kurosaki's sister.

Yoshino sat with a black haired boy on the floor, she looked completely calm, as if she hadn't just stopped a potential fight.

"You're class is lucky," Senna happily said chowing down. "You got three of the new transfers."

"Well they happen to be very anti-social, at least, Kurosaki and Hitsugaya are. Matsumoto is always surrounded by boys, so, I can't really tell how she's doing," was heard grumpily coming from Rukia's mouth, as she turned back to look at Senna. "It's turned into a craziness in here."

Senna helped herself to some of Rukia's lunch. "We only got two of them. Hisagi and Kenzaki but they also keep to themselves."

Rukia looked over at the group. Shuuhei Hisagi sat beside Hitsugaya, apparently teasing him about something. Hisagi's black hair was short and spiky like Kurosaki's and he had multiple tattoos. You could tell he worked out, Rukia could see his clearly defined muscles and the veins sticking out from his well toned arms.

Ryusei Kenzaki (this is Kenryu by the way, from the Amagai Arc) was sprawled on the floor talking to Kurosaki. Kenzaki picked at the his food, his green eyes mischievous as he threw small bits of it at an increasing-in-anger, Kurosaki. Kurosaki eventually stood, taking what was left of Kenzaki's own lunch and unceremoniously dumping it onto Kenzaki's black hair.

"The only ones I don't know anything about are the boy with the glasses and Yoshino," Senna said, as she reached over starting on Momo's lunch.

"The boy's name is Uryu Ishida," Momo struggled to say, due to her fighting with Senna over the food. "Ishida and Yoshino are both third years and I heard that they're engaged to each other." Rukia looked over at the couple sitting a little away from the rest of the group. The boy with black hair and glasses lay on the ground, his head on Yoshino's lap, as she held his hand.

"Engaged?" Rukia's doubtful voice said. "They're only a year older than us."

"That's just what I heard," Momo said, as she succeeded in snatching some food from Senna.

"Both of them are already at the top rankings in their class," Senna added as if to confirm that they were meant for each other. "In fact Rukia, how are you and Kaien holding up?"

"I'm still ranked second," Rukia replied darkly, "and Kaien is still first. Hitsugaya has been third and Kurosaki, Matsumoto, Hisagi and Kenzaki are always in the top twenty somewhere. Although, I don't know how, I never see any of them studying and they never come to the extra study sessions, and I would know, I go to all of them. I have a feeling that they don't try too hard on tests."

Momo nodded, "All I ever see them doing is messing around. The only one I've ever seen studying is Ishida."

"Didn't you notice though," Senna almost whispered, "That Ishida boy he's different from the rest, besides just the studying thing."

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean," Momo nodded her head again.

"What he wears glasses?" Rukia asked turning back to get a better look at Uryu Ishida.

"Rukia," both Senna and Momo said, their eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"You are so dumb," Senna muttered.

"Then what is it?"

"He is obviously not as good looking as the rest," an exasperated answer came from Momo.

"You're kidding right?" Rukia looked at them. "That is so not nice," she said, when they shook their heads that, they were, in fact, not kidding.

"Sad, a whole family of good looking people and the ugly duckling," Senna exclaimed. "Rukia, I think you're the only one that didn't notice."

It was true, after watching the family more closely; Rukia did notice that Ishida did seem different from the rest. He wasn't different because he wasn't as good looking but rather he seemed more "normal". Out of the whole group, he would probably be the one that Rukia would go up and talk to, if she ever were to on a whim. The rest just seemed otherworldly.

다른

Swim practice, the one time Rukia didn't have to see any of the new, amazing family. She practically skipped out onto the deck, almost taking out Soi Fon in the process.

"Hey," Soi Fon said whacking her with a kick board, "why are you so happy? Finally get your first kiss or something?"

"No jerk," Rukia said as she grabbed the kick board, bopping Soi Fon on the head with it, "do I need an excuse to be happy?"

"No, but usually your just negative Nancy all the time," Soi Fon answered. "Or maybe it's because you heard about the new additions to our team?"

"No I didn't hear about any new members," Rukia froze. "Oh no don't tell me it's-"

"Into the pool, let's go," her coach loudly verbalized, appearing on the deck. "Before we start warm-up we have some new swimmers to introduce."

Rukia jumped into the pool with the rest of the team and tried her best to hide beneath the lip of the pool deck.

Hitsugaya stepped out from behind her coach followed by Kurosaki, scowl in place.

"Yo, I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya, second year, I swim IM"

"Ichigo Kurosaki, second year, I do mostly butterfly"

"Oh mister lifeguard," Soi Fon happily said flapping her hand like an idiot.

Kurosaki's eyes widened in, what Rukia assumed to be, recognition, as Toshiro eyed Soi Fon warily.

"Well if you're here where's the little bean sprout?" Kurosaki said, walking to the edge of the pool and peeking over.

"I'm not a bean sprout," Rukia grumbled out, disappointed that she was found already.

"Hey shouldn't you be using floaties, I may not be on lifeguard duty right now but I still don't want any children drowning when I'm around."

"I'll show you drowning," Rukia said finally looking up and at once wishing she hadn't. She could tell that he was in shape and fit from the way his school uniform fit him, but she didn't know his body was so perfect. Thank you swim team uniform requirements! Being as how he only wore jammers now, (it's a swim suit for guys, they kinda look like biking shorts) Rukia had a full view of his body. No wonder he did butterfly with abs like that, heck she was wondering if he could even float because he seemed to be all muscle. Rukia could see all the wonderfully etched bumps and ridges, formed by his toned muscles and his flawless skin didn't help her sanity either, with its perfect golden tan. Rukia gulped, glad that he wasn't wearing a speedo or else she might have forgotten how to breath.

"What are you looking at my small one?" Kurosaki smirked leaning over the edge of the pool.

"A big, fat-headed idiot," Rukia said embarrassed that she had been caught. She grabbed the nearest kick board, reaching up to smack him in the head with it. "I hope you wear a swim cap to cover that atrocious hair of yours. At least, with it on I won't have to control my urge to go over there and rip it all out."

"You have urges to do stuff to me?"

"Too bad you're the only lifeguard here, there'll will be no one to give you CPR after I drown you in the pool."

"I don't think you can even swim, there's no muscle anywhere on your body."

"I'm going to shove your head in a gutter."

"Maybe it's a good thing you do swimming, or at least attempt to, I can't imagine you doing any sport that involves coordination, I mean you can't even stand on the blocks without losing you balance."

Her coach cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to the fact that the whole swim team was now observing their little conversation. "Kuchiki," he uttered, "let's not scare away the few people that do want to be on swim team."

Rukia nodded blushing and trying to ignore Kurosaki's smirk. "Okay, from your times I think I'll have you swim in that lane over there," he coach said pointing Hitsugaya and Kurosaki to the lane next to Rukia's. "If you have any questions I'm sure Kuchiki will be able to help."

수영복

Practice had been difficult that day to say the least. Once it was over she had succeeded in whacking Kurosaki over the head five more times with a kickboard, being shoved by Soi Fon into Kurosaki as they waited in line to practice starts and to top it all off, she even managed to fall head first off the blocks, only to come up sputtering as Kurosaki clutched his sides from laughing so hard. Yep, not one of her better practices.

Rukia stepped out into the cold, after changing back into her school uniform. She wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck as she began walking. Why swim season was during the winter months, she never knew, at least most of the meets were at indoor pools. Speaking of meets, she had one coming up and it was a home meet. Should she tell Kaien?

Kaien used to come to all her home meets but after the appearance of a certain orang-headed bimbo, his attendance diminished greatly.

Rukia got a little too excited, at the idea of punching orange-headed, big-boobed bimbos, that the poor innocent ice, she was obliviously walking towards, didn't even have a chance to warn her. Rukia stepped onto the sheet of ice and slipped, the action causing her to fall backwards.

A strong hand grabbed her by her upper arm before she hit, and roughly pulled her back up to her feet.

"See what I said, no coordination," a rather smug voice said.

"Kurosaki what are you doing here," Rukia ground out.

"Ah your welcome," he said, stuffing his gloved hands into the pockets of his black pea coat. "Actually I'm here on favor."

"Favor to who?" Rukia resumed walking and Kurosaki followed her.

"Hitsugaya."

"He didn't want to do it himself?"

"Nah he's too stubborn to."

"I don't think I can help him and why are you following me?"

"I have to make sure you don't eat shit on the way home," Kurosaki said in a pleasant voice, as if she had invited him to walk with her.

"Uh huh, and you just left a small child like Hitsugaya alone by himself somewhere at night?"

"You'd better be thankful I don't tell him that you said that, and like you're one to talk about "small" child," he huffed. "But as much as I can see your concern you don't have to worry. He drove home, he's old enough to have his license after all."

Rukia wondered how many times he had gotten pulled over for looking too young to drive. "That still doesn't answer why you're following me right now, if any favors are needed you can just ask me tomorrow at school."

"This favor," Kurosaki said his voice suddenly serious, "is somewhat secretive in nature."

"Secretive?" Rukia articulated slowly, making sure she heard him correctly.

He nodded, "We're asking for you help because we have a feeling that you won't go blabbing this little conversation to unneeded ears."

Rukia is silent, she glances over at him, his scowl is deeper set than usual and his jaw is clenched. "Before I help you with this little favor can I at least know the topic of this secretive discussion?"

Kurosaki pauses, "Momo Hinamori," he tried to say nonchalant as possible.

"Momo?"

모모 히나모리

* * *

_IM in swimming stand for "individual medley" it means that the swimmer does all four of the strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle). When doing butterfly it also helps to have muscle because that stroke is hard!_

_Also I don't know when swim season is in Japan, but swim season at my high school was during the winter season so I'm just going to go with that._

_And don't worry, this story is about Rukia not Momo._

_Don't worry the next chapter is when some things really start to unfold, so hang on :)_

_Oh and if somebody has time, would they be able to tell me what OOC or OCC or whatever it is, means in relation to the stories written on fanfiction? I've seen it but still don't know what it means._

_Thanks for reading!_

_-Tres_


	4. Where the Logic was Lost

_Thanks to those of you that have stuck it out, don't worry this chapter is more exciting than the last two! Sorry and hope this one makes up for some boredom. Sorry I was up late reading this really really funny story like ten billion times, I laughed so much that I burnt a lot of calories, ate to refuel, ate too much, then had to sleep it off._

_On a rather random note, did anyone see how many communities "Naruto" has?!!! (3000+ ish). Especially in comparison to how many "Bleach" has! (almost 300). And "Inuyasha" too! (1000+ ish). How can there be 3000??!! It's craziness man! _

_It might take a bit longer to come out with the next chapters, I feel like I've hit a wall or at least meet up with one (A very thick, bricky, wall). I have point A (where the story is now) and have point B but can't get to point B (where almost all the questions are answered). The connection no worky!_

_But chapter five is halfway done, but it might be kinda fillerish until I figure out my plan.  
Sorry! _

**_Warning_: **_I thought it would be best to tell you all now that Aizen will not be the bad guy of this story, he has a part, but he's a good guy (I just love his "fatherly" look to much to make him the bad guy)._

_DeviantHollow23: As always your review was great and I hope you can spot the scene._

_Nekura Enzeru: I absolutely love love your Death, Strawberry, Holocaust story and hope to read more of your works. Ichigo's family (Yuzu, Karin, Isshin, Masaki) will only have a small part that will be elaborated on later and Yoruichi and Urahara will make their entrance around the same time. The parents, per say ... crap *whispers* the person Ichigo calls his "father" and the person Hitsugaya refers to in a later chapter as the "Epistle" are the same person (but not Isshin, or Yamamoto). The mother spot I still haven't decided who to put in there yet._

_Sgt. Notorious: I'm not sure on the usage of the all the espada but I was planning on using Grimmjow and maybe Wonderweiss. Oh and I will use Nnoitra Jiruga, he will end up playing a very important part. I really don't like Mr. Spooney Head._

_Thanks for the lovely reviews!_

_Random song of interest: Always be Mine - F.T. Island_

_Watch out for use language use on this one, because Rukia's potty mouth gets the better of her._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, F.T. Island or the Internet, in any way.**

* * *

그저 두 가지 질문

"What do you need with Momo," Rukia said sitting down near the counter, in her kitchen once she got home. Nemu had already gone home, leaving a plate of dinner out for Rukia. Kurosaki sat down in the chair next to Rukia.

"We don't mean her any harm, I just need some questions answered, okay?" Kurosaki replied.

"How many is some?"

"Two ... ish."

"Why are you asking me, just go ask Momo yourself," Rukia said warily.

"There is a certain risk involved there that we'd rather not take," said Kurosaki, dancing around what exactly the risk was. "You're one of the only people that Momo seems to hang around and you seemed less likely to blab than that Senna girl."

"The risk?"

"Look just answer the questions then we'll talk."

She paused, "I'll answer them if I can, but in return I want some questions answered," Rukia said, pulling her dinner towards her.

"Fine I'll answer them if I can," he quoted her, "but I get to go first."

"Fine," Rukia agreed, reaching for her chopsticks. Kurosaki picked them up first, helping himself to Rukia's food.

"Okay let's do the easiest one first, Momo Hinamori, does she have a tattoo?"

Rukia nodded slowly, "That's random but yes she does have one, how did you know about that?"

"Wait for your turn, the tattoo where is it?" he said, his posture stiffening.

"She said it was on her hand but she didn't specify where exactly," Rukia recalled, as she got another pair of chopsticks, trying to claim some of the remaining food.

"You haven't seen it yourself?"

"Nope, but how did you know she had one?"

"It's still not your turn to ask questions, I have one more."

"Fine," Rukia grumpily said as he finished off the rest of her dinner.

He paused, appearing to contemplate what to say. "Has Momo been involved in any dangerous situations somewhat recently, like within the last six months?" He stopped, not looking at her, "One where … one where her life was in danger?"

Rukia's eyes widened but she hid her shock, "Um besides going to our school, where you have to dodge crazies on a daily basis that either try to grope you or fight you or-"

"Rukia, tell me what you know."

"How do you even know that I know anything?"

"Rukia, please."

She turned to look at him, her dark purple eyes meeting his brown ones. "How do you know about her attack?"

"Answer first."

"I can't"

"I already know something happened, now just answer," he said, a dangerous edge appearing in his voice. His face was rapt with attention, and he almost seemed desperate for her to reply.

Rukia swallowed nervously, "This is really important to Momo and barely anyone knows about it."

"What happened?"

Rukia took a deep breath and looked away from him, "A-about four months ago, she was attacked and almost r-raped. She was walking home when someone grabbed her. Luckily, someone else was around and was able to help her." Rukia stopped as she looked down at her clenched fist. She took another deep breath before continuing. "She hit her head and was in a coma for a week afterwards," she said, shaking as she recalled Momo's condition in the hospital. Kurosaki reached over and took her hand, squeezing it lightly.

"The man, the one that attacked her, he was never caught." Rukia whispered. "Momo's parents refused to relocate and now Momo will never go anywhere alone. She tries to act like everything is normal, but I know she isn't the same person she used to be."

"Is there a reason her parents didn't relocate?"

"Momo wouldn't answer that, I barely got her to tell me that she was attacked in the first place."

There was silence; Rukia heard the clock on the wall tick off the seconds as she turned her head to look at Kurosaki. His eyebrows were knitted together and his eyes had a glassy look to them.

"She wouldn't tell anyone about it. It was never in the media or in any of the newspapers. Tell me how you knew about Momo's attack and the tattoo?" Rukia practically demanded, breaking his thought.

Another moment of silence then, "My father told me about the attack but he didn't know the specifics," Kurosaki replied, letting go of her hand.

"How did he know about it in the first place?"

"Can't answer, that's not one of your questions," he jokingly said, but his eyebrows stayed furrowed. "And as for the tattoo, let's just call it a really strong gut feeling."

"That is not an answer."

"Well, the answer you gave me wasn't much help either, considering you haven't seen the tattoo yourself."

Rukia felt her anger levels slowly rising but along with those feelings, came a sense of fear. "If you know something about her attack, then you need to tell the police."

"The police?" he scoffed, "that would be a waste of time. Don't worry, the man that attacked her will be dealt with."

"You know who he is?" Rukia suddenly felt her heart rate increase. 'Was he the attacker, or one of his brothers or was he helping the attacker to stay hidden?' Questions exploded in her head and Rukia suddenly felt very unsafe, she stood, trying to keep her outer appearance calm as she picked up the plate, that had held her dinner and headed over to the sink in the kitchen.

She wished Nemu was there, or her brother, her cell phone was in her pocket but she doubted that help would get there in time.

"I don't know him personally," Kurosaki continued, not noticing Rukia's hand as it slipped behind her back to grab a knife from the counter. "But something can still be done," he added as an after thought, as if to himself.

He turned in his seat to find Rukia behind him clutching a knife in both of her hands.

"Who did it? Was it you or someone from your family? Why did you hurt Momo?" Rukia worked to keep her voice steady and squeezed the handle of the knife tighter. She looked into his eyes, and instead of seeing fear, she could've sworn she saw pain.

Kurosaki stood, walking towards Rukia. She took hesitant steps backwards, "I'm warning you," Rukia said, as he got closer. She backed into the wall and he stopped directly in front of her. Her back was flat against the wall as he took two more steps, stopping his body just inches from the knife's point.

"Why do you have this?" he whispered, grabbing the blade of the knife with his bare hand. Rukia felt the blood pour from blade, down the handle, onto her own hands. Her hands went limp and he took the knife, dropping it to the floor behind him. He stepped closer to her placing his forearms on the wall on either side of her head.

"W-what are you doing?" Rukia whispered, watching the blood trickle down his forearm from the cut on his hand.

"I told you that I don't know who the man is that hurt Momo, but I will find out. There are methods my family has, that you don't need to know about, for dealing with people like that."

"But how will you find him?" Rukia gasped out, putting one of her hands against his chest to stop the shrinking distance between their bodies.

"That's for me to know and for you to ponder," he whispered into her ear. She could feel his steady heart beat in his chest, and wondered if he could hear her heart as it hammered furiously away at her ribs, partially out of fear.

"Kurosaki . . ."

"It's Ichigo," he rested his forehead on her shoulder, she could smell his cool, relaxing scent. "One more question Rukia."

She just nodded, she couldn't form words at that moment.

"Do you believe that some relationships are meant to be and nothing can change that?" he pulled back slightly to look in her eyes. She hesitated getting lost in his stare. He started leaning towards her, his lips seeking hers.

"You can't change something that is meant to be. It's like destiny," she managed to get out, stopping his advance. He looked sad at her answer and the sadness was reflected in his eyes.

He pulled away, heading for her door. "I see," she heard the front door open. "Make sure you come to school tomorrow so I know that you're alright. Night Rukia."

Rukia heard the door close behind him and she slumped to the floor. What was that about? How did he know about the attack, or how did his father know? Could she trust him? She waited for her breathing to return to normal before she pulled her phone out of her pocket, ignoring the blood on her hands as she quickly dialed.

"Hello," a cheerful voice said answering.

"Momo?"

"Rukia? Hey what's up? Isn't past your bed time?" She teased.

"Momo I-I just wanted to say hey, and make sure everything was okay with you."

"Yeah everything's fine, why is something wrong with you?"

"No, everything is fine … umm Momo?"

"Yes?"

"N-never mind, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow." Rukia hadn't felt like asking Momo whether it seemed as if anyone had been following her lately. She didn't want to instill any fear into her friend's slowly repairing heart.

"Sure Rukia. Make sure you get some sleep, sounds like you've been working too hard at swim practice, K? Bye," the line went dead, and Rukia closed her phone, setting it on the floor beside her.

She sat on the floor, staring at the blood on her hands, before the clock, chiming midnight, shook her from her thoughts. Rukia shook her head and slowly stood to clean up the mess.

She wondered if he was okay, because by the look of things, he had lost a lot of blood. Rukia finished the clean up, making sure no blood was left. She wiped off her phone and discarded her skirt. She spent most of the time scrubbing her hands, even after all the visible blood had been washed away.

As she headed to her room she noticed a folded piece of paper on the counter that hadn't been there when she had gotten home. Cautiously, she reached over and picked it up, unfolding it with bated breath.

Inside was a phone number and underneath it said, "You'll be thankful that you have this number someday."

감사

Rukia walked with Momo to school the next day, despite their house being a mile apart. Rukia had left early and walked to Momo's house, appearing on her doorstep without so much as a warning. On her hurry over, Rukia had nearly taken out Nemu, who had been stepping out of the elevator just as Rukia rushed in.

"Sorry have to do something early at school," she said to a bewildered Nemu as she pounded the button for the doors to close. The elevator hated Rukia that day.

During the walk to school, Momo chattered away happily, not noticing the worry Rukia struggled to hide on her face.

Momo reached up waving her hand in front of Rukia's face, "Hello, earth trying to contact Rukia here. You're acting super weird today, first you show up at my house, apparently on a whim, then you space out completely. You didn't even notice that you practically ran over poor Keigo back there."

Rukia saw it; on Momo's middle finger, of her right hand, was a series of black markings. Rukia unconsciously grabbed her hand, pulling it closer to her own face for inspection. The markings formed a word running along the side of her finger that was usually pressed against her ring finger.

"Rukia, what the hell," Momo exclaimed, as she tugged her hand from Rukia's grasp.

"Sorry Momo, I thought you had the same nail polish as me," she said in a distracted voice.

"But I'm not wearing any nail polish …"

"Ooh look Momo, Hitsugaya and his family are here," and for once, since she had met him, Kurosaki appeared at a convenient time.

"He looks good today," Momo gleamed, watching as Hitsugaya walked onto the school grounds, following Kurosaki. Rukia watched Kurosaki run his hand through his hair. There were no bandages, on either of his hands. All evidence that he had recently (and stupidly) grabbed the blade of a knife, were gone, both of his hands covered by smooth, flawless skin.

She pushed the thought from the forefront of her mind. Focusing back on her original trouble, she turned, seeing a sufficiently distracted Momo. Rukia used this diversion to escape, pushing through the crowd that had started to form, and barreling her way to the library.

There was no way his hand could've been healed already and a cut that big could not be easily hidden. She shifted it from her thoughts, trying to focus on one problem at a time.

She rushed into the library, bashing the door into someone's cranium as she pushed open the door.

"Sorry," she said, not even bothering to stop and see whom it was. She ran to the nearest computer and began a search.

She typed in the word she had seen on Momo's finger, and hit search. "Come on, come on," she muttered, stopping herself from reaching up and shaking the computer.

"No entries were found," the screen finally said.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!" Rukia yelled at the computer screen. All activity in the library stopped as thirty or so sets of eyes turned to look at the crazy person yelling at inanimate objects.

"Uh," Rukia noticed the stares. "It said I have a low grade in a class that I know I'm doing good in hehe," Rukia said weakly, hastily clearing her search.

"You can't even check your grades on those computers, those ones are only for library searches," another student said.

"Shut your face pea brain!" Rukia snapped. 'Crap,' she mentally cursed herself.

"Oops, my bad, no wonder my scores looked so bad," her sweeter voice appeared as she grabbed her stuff and started heading to the door. "I should have noticed something was wrong when my name came up as 'Dictionary.' Silly me," her sugary voice said, as she talked the whole way from her position by the computer, to the exit.

She practically ran for her classroom, and spent the rest of the time before class started, hiding her red face.

답변 없음

"Hey Rukia," Kaien called out to her as lunch began. He had been missing from all the morning classes but Rukia hadn't died of worry because she had been distracted by other issues. "I heard you got second place on the Comprehensive English Test."

"And I take it you got first," Rukia grumpily replied, turning to look at him.

She felt her eyebrow twitch, and couldn't help it as she burst out laughing. "What happened to your face?" Rukia gasped out, clutching the sides of her stomach.

Kaien's face was puffy, especially around his nose. He had a brace on the top of his nose, and Rukia could see the bruising underneath it. To top it all off, he was sporting an eye patch over his right eye.

"Stop laughing," he grumbled. "My poor face was almost permanently disfigured and you're laughing your ass off."

"Sorry, sorry are you okay?" she managed to choke out in the very small breaks between fits of laughter.

"I can tell you really mean that, but for you information, I was in the library this morning, about to head out the door, when some crazy lunatic came rushing in and slammed the door right into my face. I was hit so hard that a blood vessel broke in my eye!" he indicated to the eye patch. "Whoever the big jerk was didn't even stop to see if I was okay."

웁스!

Rukia avoided Kurosaki, the best she could, the whole day (and Kaien too but only because she couldn't stop laughing), not that she had much contact with him at school in the first place. She skipped swim practice heading straight home.

"Hey, no practice today?" asked Nemu, catching sight of Rukia as she stepped through the door.

"I didn't feel good so I decided to come home, I'm going to my room," Rukia tried to hide her hurry as she rushed up the stairs.

"Okay, I'll bring you some something to eat."

Rukia hastily shut the door of her room behind her and ran to her laptop. She dropped her bags onto the floor and turned on her computer. "Come on baby," she mumbled to it as it started up.

She opened the Internet, hurriedly typing in the word from Momo's finger and praying that she had remembered the spelling correctly. She scanned through the results; finally stopping on one that seemed suitable. She clicked on the link holding her breath.

"_Humilitas_, Latin for Humility. One of the seven virtues, corresponding vice/sin: Pride."

겸손

* * *

_**DH** I hope you saw which part was for you:) _

_It might take a bit longer to publish the next chapter, because I'm on a toss up about how the story should play out from here._

_Sorry! :(_


	5. Why She Began to Change

_Chapter 5 (Finally!!!)_

_Sorry I've just been so hesitant lately about what to put. I hate forgetting small details that will turn out to be rather important later on. But I've decided to pony up and stick with my choice on where the story is going._

_Part of this chapter is rather violent because I wrote part of it after I got off of a crappy shift at work. So I was kinda in a bad mood after having to listen to this mean lady all night._

_DeviantHoolow23 - You likey your scene I take it? And don't worry, Kaien's face isn't safe from harm yet. Ichigo's hand will be enlightened on later as well as more information of the sins._

_Nekura Enzeru - You are very close on the idea behind the main plot but I can't say anything else without revealing too much, Sorry!_

_Sim-chan - Definitely a confidence booster there :) I will give a lemon serious consideration and may try to write one but I think that is my Achilles heel *sigh. But for now fighting! (Right? Go into the project with self esteem!)_

_Anna Haruno - Good hypothesis :) very close on many parts but don't worry I am currently working on the chapter that reveals everything, and don't want to spill the beans early, thanks for the review._

_ - Yay I really enjoy being added to people's favorites, especially on this website (way better than being people's favorites on myspace and such) but thank you for the lovely review and I hope the story continues to meet your expectations :)_

_Watch for some potty mouth language, because there's no way to avoid cat fights without some mean use of language._

_Random song: DoReMiFaSoTiLaDo - Jang Geun-Seuk (this song is in Korean)_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way (or JGS and his song, or the movie it's from)**_

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_풀리는 것_

Rukia felt like hell, she had been up the whole night reading all the information she could find on relating in any way to _humilitas_. Eventually she had gotten stuck on sins and virtues and had spent the hours of the early morning reading what she could find on them.

There were seven deadly sins (pride, lust, gluttony, envy, wrath, greed and sloth) each with their own corresponding virtue (humility, chastity, temperance, kindness, patience, charity and diligence respectively).

From what she could find, _humilitas_ was Latin for humility. Humility itself could also be referred to as being humble and dealt more with intrinsic self worth, rather than worth in extrinsic factors. It had a part in multiple different religions and was considered by many philosophers to be a central virtue.

What the heck was it doing adorning Momo's finger?

The sin it countered was pride. Pride was the original and most serious of the sins. It gave rise to all the other sins and had to do with a great love of self. It was represented by the devil.

Never before had Rukia had so much confusion cloud her mind. She had read, briefly, of the other sins but focused on humility and how it might relate to Momo.

"Maybe I'm just overreacting," she tried to convince herself. "I don't even know if _humilitas_ on her hand has any real connection with humility and the seven deadly sins."

"Rukia," she heard Nemu say. Her bedroom door opened and Nemu poked her head in. "You're going to be late if you don't start moving. Do you want a ride?"

과잉

"Rukia," Senna joyfully cried, wrapping Rukia in a "loving" headlock, once Nemu had dropped Rukia off. "You're later than usual, and you look like hell and a half."

Rukia's only answer was to growl as she let Senna half lead, half drag her into the school.

"Ooh look at Hitsugaya's new watch," Senna released Rukia's head and turned her attention to the passing Hitsugaya and Kenzaki. "His watch before was nice but this one is above nice. I heard even the knock off versions are super expensive."

"Senna," Rukia collected her thoughts enough to notice that someone was missing.

"I know Rukia, it's a Pontos Decentrique with Night and Day Indicator, by Maurice Lacroix," she started to recite.

"Senna! Where's Momo?"

"Momo," hmm noises came from Senna, "I haven't seen her yet, but you know how she is. She probably just forgot to set her alarm clock and will wake up some time in the afternoon and come to school, not even noticing she's late."

"I hope you're right," Rukia said mostly to herself. Senna followed her to her classroom and Rukia had a feeling that she wasn't _just_ doing it to be a good friend but also because she wanted to see certain other people.

They reached the door, Senna manhandled some people out of the way and slid the door open.

"DUCK!" Senna yelled, following her own advice and hitting the deck. Poor Rukia, who had been worrying about Momo, wasn't so lucky. She was right behind Senna, and since Senna ducked, it was Rukia who was hit with a powder laden chalkboard eraser, hit right in the face.

"Ooooooh"

The eraser fell on the ground, puffing chalk dust onto her black shoes. Rukia looked up into the eyes of Orihime Inoue, whose arm was still extended from her throw. Orihime was trying her hardest to suppress a laugh as Rukia bent down, picked up the eraser and marched around Senna, into the hush-laden classroom.

"Did you just throw this eraser at my face?" Rukia calmly asked.

"Well, I threw it but I wasn't aiming for your face. I was aiming for Kaien but he dodged it, and it would've hit Senna but she ducked," Orihime said, the amusement evident in her voice.

"Did you use your brain before you threw it?"

Silence

All the laughter had died from Orhime's lips. "Hey it's not my fault you didn't dodge it. Senna managed to and she even gave you a warning," Orihime bit out.

"What kind of immature, pain-in-the-ass, idiot are you?" Rukia felt the effects of getting zero hours of sleep start to take their toll.

"Rukia," Kaien weakly cut in, "isn't that a bit harsh?"

"You better shut your cram hole Kaien before I come over there and shove this eraser down your throat or whatever orifice it meets first," Rukia looked like she meant business. She was a bit sad, that he had sided with Orihime but she knew she shouldn't be surprised. Orihime was, after all, his girlfriend and apparently, girlfriends came before best friends in Kaien's book.

"Now you're mad at Kaien," Orihime practically yelled. "I bet you're only this way because you're jealous. You're only being mean to Kaien because he's always ranked first and you're being rude to me because you're jealous that I'm dating Kaien."

'Something to kill with, bash her over the head with, smashy smashy. Is it possible to kill someone with a chalkboard eraser?' Rukia pushed the thought from her mind. Orihime was _not_ going to get the last word.

"Listen bimbo, if anyone should be rubbing the number 1 spot in my face it should be Kaien not you," Rukia ground out as she rubbed her hand on her forehead.

Orihime's eye narrowed, "Did you just call me a bimbo? Just because Kaien loves me and I love him doesn't make me a bimbo! Our love runs deeper than rivers of gravy is mash potatoes, than the deepest radish in a garden -."

"Blah blah blah, would you please just shut your mouth and think before you talk so that you'll make sense for once in your life?"

"Ugh I'm so done with this, I bet that's why Momo said she was sick today, because she couldn't stand spending time with you!"

"Momo's sick," Rukia gasped. She reached up with one hand and grabbed the front of Orihime's shirt. "How did you know that? Where is Momo?"

"She's probably at home, that's what you do when your sick, or trying to avoid nut jobs that think you're their friend. And I heard she was sick because Kaien heard it from his father and told me," she smirked. "Why are you jealous that he doesn't want to talk to you anymore?"

That was it, Rukia decided that she was indeed going to try and commit murder using a chalkboard eraser as her weapon of choice.

Before she could even put her "well-thought out" plan into action, a strong hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.

"I think that's enough now my little one," a scowling Kurosaki appeared. With his other hand he pulled Rukia's fingers off the front of Orihime's shirt. He turned to look at Orihime, his smirk now gone, "I think you owe her an apology."

"W-what," Orihime sputtered, "I don't owe that dumb bitch anything."

"Fine, have it your way," he said dropping the eraser onto Orihime's head. "It's not even worth Rukia's time to hear you snivel one out," and with that he turned, pulling Rukia after him.

칠판 지우개 문제

"That was very entertaining," he said, eyes gleaming, as they stood in the hallway. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and then proceeding to brush off Rukia's face.

"I can't believe I just did that," a dumfounded Rukia said.

"Why? "

"I just don't do that stuff. I'm the shy, quiet girl that hardly ever talks."

"Hmm, are you sure? Because half the times I've seen you, you're either engaged in verbal or physical violence," he chuckled as he leaned closer to her, blowing some chalk dust off her face. His cinnamon breath was cool and Rukia felt a blush rise in her cheeks.

"Thank you Kurosaki," she whispered.

"That again? I told you it's Ichigo and the chalk dust was just annoying me, so I'm only doing this to help my sanity."

"No," Rukia paused, "I meant, thanks for taking my side ... Ichigo."

He looked into her eyes, "No problem"

A full-blown blush appeared on Rukia's face, "A-and you stopped me from committing murder via bludgeoning with a blunt object." She stammered leaning away from him. Oh if Momo could see -

"Momo," her eyes widened. "I have to go."

"Wait, where are you going?" Ichigo said catching her hand in his.

"To see Momo, I need to see if she's okay."

"I'll go with you then."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm worried about her too."

"Gah!" Rukia furiously ran her free hand through her hair. "I don't have time to argue with you!" She turned, pulling her hand from his and took off, running down the hallway. She pushed open the school's front door and started sprinting towards Momo's house.

A block away from the school a black car pulled out in front of her and the passenger window rolled down. Ichigo scowled at her from the driver seat. "I said I was going with you, now get in, your steps are so small Hinamori will probably die of old age before you get there."

Rukia hesitated, "You'd better get in," he said reaching across the seat and opening the passenger side door. "If you don't I'll just beat you to Momo's house and tell her that you confessed your undying love to Toshiro today."

Momo would kill Rukia for sure, most likely by crying a literal river then proceeding to drown Rukia in the salty flow of tears. Rukia got into the car, shutting the door. She didn't want to see Momo crying and she also didn't feel like being drowned.

복용 측면

"Rukia," Momo beamed as said girl walked into her room, "what are you doing here, isn't there school righ-" She stopped, finally taking note of who was accompanying her petite friend.

"Yo," Ichigo smiled, holding up his hand in greeting. "Hope you don't mind, I decided to come visit along with Rukia."

"N-n-no problem at all," Momo squeaked out. She pulled herself into a sitting position, her eyes still on Ichigo Kurosaki who now stood by Rukia. Momo pulled the covers higher up her pajama clad body and reached over, opening the window that was beside her bed, was it suddenly a lot hotter in there or was it just her?

Rukia was still fuming about being deceived by Ichigo's empty lie. He hadn't even known where Momo's house was and he also admitted that Hitsugaya would most likely murder him if he ever used his name and the words "undying love" in the same sentence.

Rukia pushed aside her anger, as she noticed her friends red tinted cheeks. Although she couldn't tell whether it was from the cold or Ichigo's presence.

"Momo how are you feeling?" Rukia started. She really wanted to talk to Momo alone.

Momo had spent enough time around Rukia, that Rukia was sure she would notice it. Notice that she was using what Momo liked to call her "sugar-coated lala land" voice.

"I'm fine, nothing big, just a cold I think," Momo sniffled.

"Good, good," Rukia was distracted sorting in her head through numerous plans to get rid of Ichigo.

"Kurosaki," Momo said, as she reached over to her desk and pulled her wallet out of her bag. "Do you think you could run to the store really quick for me. It's just two blocks down the street and I could really use some mango juice."

"Uh sure," he said, daintily taking Momo's plum decorated wallet in his hand. No, he wouldn't look gay at all carrying that around. "I'll be back in a minute."

He left, but not before noticing the look of relief that flashed over Rukia's face.

"Rukia, what's goin-" Momo started.

"Me first Momo," Rukia interrupted, her voice back to it's normal tone. She reached out and took Momo's right hand. "Do you know what this means," she indicated to the ink on her middle finger.

"Doesn't it usually mean like fuck you or something?"

Rukia almost laughed, yes it looked like Momo was indeed flipping her off, "No, not the symbol your hand is making, the symbol that's _on_ your hand."

Momo shook her head, "Humilitas, no. I did do some reading on it but couldn't find anything that seemed to fit. I was going to look in the library some time."

"Don't bother, I already tried and didn't find anything there."

"You're researching it too?" Momo raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah and I found something on the Internet," Rukia stopped.

"What did you find?"

"What… what do you know about the seven d-deadly sins?" Rukia almost whispered.

"The seven deadly sins? Nothing really other than the fact that there are seven of them. Why?"

"I think your tattoo might have something to with that. Do you really not remember when you go it?"

"Not exactly, but I lied when I said that I thought I got it at a party."

"Where Momo and when?" Rukia pleaded.

"It just appeared the day after I got home from the hospital after the you know-," she struggled to say. Rukia waited as Momo recomposed herself. "I went to bed, it wasn't there and the next day it was on my hand. Rukia what does this all mean?"

"I wish I knew." Rukia said quietly. They may not have known but the person hidden just outside of Momo's bedroom window knew. There was an unexpected kink in the plan now.

뜻밖의 비꼬임

Ichigo took his sweet time at the store and by the time he had gotten back Momo had already gone through two more cycles of panic, crying, calming and recomposing herself.

"Here you go," he said, handing her a shopping bag. "I didn't know which one was your favorite so I got one of each brand."

Momo smiled and took the bag. She pulled out her wallet, opening it. "You didn't use my money?"

"Nah, I had the money on me and forgot that you had given me your wallet," he shrugged.

'Yea right,' Rukia thought, 'He probably just didn't want to be caught carrying around her wallet.'

"Well thank you, but I really, really, really have to know, are you two going out?!" Momo's eyes were blazing in her excitement.

"Not really," he said, tousling his hair awkwardly.

"Not really? No Momo not at all!" Rukia jumped in, hoping to salvage what was left of her dignity. "Like I'd ever date a blond-headed, nammy-knocker like him."

"Rukia what's a nammy-knocker?" amusement for Momo on her friend's lack of sensible insults.

"I have no idea, but that's beside the point. We are in no way dating! Besides, I rather dislike blondish haired people at the moment. To be more specific, blond-orangey haired people."

"What's she talking about?" Momo asked Ichigo as Rukia started on her rant.

"She's had a rough day, you might want to ask her tomorrow."

힘든 하루

"Thank you for the ride," Rukia said, getting outside of Ichigo's car in front of the hotel. She decided just to skip the rest of school day and catch up on her sleep, so as not to ignite any more altercations.

"You're a little strange today Kuchiki, I've never seen you this nice," he mused.

"Well, don't get used to it, I'll be back to my quiet and anti-social self tomorrow, and it's Rukia." She stopped mid chuckle, looking up at his hands. He still had his gloves on from when he went to the store. "Can I see your hands?"

"Why?" he cautiously said. He slowly took his hands off the steering wheel but stopped as something clicked in his head. "Sorry we're just friends and it would be weird to hold your hand so I have to go." He reached across and pulled the passenger door shut. "Adios."

다른 사람들처럼

Much to Rukia's relief, Momo made it to school the next day. On a negative note Rukia was followed around by stares and whispers the whole day. Her little showdown with Orihime had spread through the school, making Rukia less of a nobody and more of a mean, crazy lunatic.

Ichigo had gotten out of his black Lexus that day, with a bandage wrapped around one of his hands. It was on the wrong hand.

Kaien caught up to her after school as she headed to swim practice and awkward apologies by both sides occurred. By the end of their conversation, Kaien and Rukia were on friendly terms again (not as friendly as Rukia would've liked) and Rukia was late for practice.

Her coach was not pleased with her for missing two practices and for being late that day. Ichigo was absent and according to Soi Fon, he had injured his hand with a kitchen knife. Part of that was true, he had been injured with a kitchen knife, but he hadn't entirely done it himself. He was also lying by saying his hand was still injured. It _had_ been, but when Rukia saw it the other day there were no visible signs of a cut.

So he was just being a skipper. She would have to beat the answers out of him later, if she survived her make up swim practice first.

지각

One of the few home swim meets of the year and more half the school had turned out. Rukia had feeling that it wasn't due to an increase in the popularity of swimming but an increase in interest of certain members of the swim team.

Ichigo's hand had "healed" completely so he now stood by Rukia on the pool deck, surveying the crowd assembled. He and Hitsugaya were the only ones of the team still in their uniforms, Rukia was guessing to keep the rabid fangirls from manhandling their bodies before they even made it to their events.

"Hey," he nudged her, "that guy over there has been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."

Rukia looked in the indicated direction and let out a sigh of relief. 'So Kaien had been telling the truth when he said he would be here.'

Her delight did not go unnoticed, by an increasingly curiouos strawberry head next to her. "That your boyfriend of something?"

I wish, "No, he's just a very good friend," said Rukia, her delight slightly marred as she noticed Orhime glaring at her from beside Kaien.

"Ah I see your other "good" friend is with him. Oh yeah, those two are dating aren't they but sigh, I think she likes me."

'Who doesn't like you?' Rukia rolled her eyes, not wanting to inflate his ego, she chose to reply instead, "That didn't sound vain at all."

"What? Shall I prove my mastery in romance to you?" he started walking towards Orihime, not even waiting for Rukia's answer.

"Knock yourself out lover boy,"

Kaien looked furious as Ichigo just walked up to Orihime and took her hand. The dumb boobs-for-brain girl acted like she wasn't surprised at sexy beasts just coming up to talk to her randomly.

Wait, why did she even care? Was she jea-

'No just sit and watch the show,' she told herself trying to calm her nerves.

Ichigo now had one of his arms wrapped around Orihime's waist as he whispered sweet nothingnesses into her ear. Kaien had a look of horror on his face probably because whatever Kurosaki was saying, Orihime wasn't saying 'no' to it.

Not wanting to watch a dumb girl making a fool of herself anymore, because come on, that's all some reality shows are these days, Rukia started to walk back to where her team was assembled.

She bumped hard into someone and fell backwards. Maybe she was as uncoordinated as Kurosaki said.

"Sorry," a cool voice said and a hand, palm side up, appeared in front of her face offering to help her up. Rukia did a double take. On the wrist in front of her was black tattoo. A tattoo in the exact same script as Momo's. Rukia lifted her head, gazing into the turquoise eyes of Toshiro Hitsugaya.

토실오 힡수기야

* * *

_I really hope it was readable and sorry that this one was a little slow and Rukia wasn't quite herself (as well as Orihime) but this is part of Rukia breaking out of her usual shell._

_Thanks for reading :)_


	6. Who He Wanted to Beat

_Okey okey here we go chapter six! Finally, don't know what's wrong with me, falling behind like that. But I wanted to get this chapter up before I go and visit family that live in the middle of nowhere with a great lacking in internet, so it was a bit rushed and I'll probably end up revising this chapter later, sorry._

_Warning: Danger to Kaien's face yet again in this chapter._

Sim-chan_ - I'm so glad you like'd the "little one" thing too! I wanted Ichigo to have a name for Rukia but I didn't want to use midget because it's used so so so much. I was a little hesitant to use it at first (because it seemed a bit softy of a thing for Ichigo to say) but I'm glad I went with it._

_xikauai__ - Thanks much for the review and your guess on the pairing up sins/virtue thing is spot on but not all the people in the pairs are going to be at the school. The OrihimexKaien thing helps to add to the drama (but there are still a super weird couple, sorry), hope you enjoy!_

**_I would enjoy hearing the guesses of what some people think the rest of the characters sins/virtues will be. There are still a few that I'm on the fence about, so.... if there's one that you think is meant to be I will definitely consider it._**

_Random song of interest: It's You - Super Junior (*In Korean)_

**Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach or the characters. Or Super Junior**

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* * *

  
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한 친전 대기 어려움 속에

_Superbia_

Pride

"Thanks," Rukia hesitantly took Hitsugaya's hand as he pulled her up.

"Ouch, I saw that one and it looked like it hurt," Ichigo smiled, appearing by her side. "Can you believe it, I asked her if she a boyfriend and she told me no. I thought your friend was her boyfriend."

"What does your tattoo mean?" Rukia blurted out, catching them both off guard.

"Oh, Toshiro's tattoo?" Rukia could see the cogs of his mind working furiously, "It's just some Latin word that stupid Toshiro got on a mere whim."

Hitsugaya punched Ichigo, "It was a minor lapse of judgment."

"What does it _mean_ though, what's it's _significance_?" she wasn't going to let it drop, and this did not please them, the annoyance clear on their faces.

"I already know S_uperbia_ is Latin for pride but why do you have a tattoo of it?" she continued.

"How much did you tell her Ichigo?" growled Hitsugaya.

"Only enough to get the information, I didn't say anything about what your tattoo meant," he murmured not breaking his gaze from Rukia. "We have to tell her."

"We can't she's not one of us, we'll just let the Epistle handle it."

"Can't we wait?"

"For now but we won't be able to avoid it forever," Hitsugaya pulled a bag from his pocket and reaching in revealing the white cloth inside. "Here," he handed it to Ichigo.

"If you keep carrying this around in your pocket people are going to think you're a rapist or something," Ichigo sighed taking it.

"Shut it lemon head, someone in our family has to be responsible."

"Rukia," Ichigo sadly murmured taking her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, please don't hate me." He covered her nose and mouth with the white cloth.

Rukia's eyes were wide and she began to try and escape his grasp

"Stop," he commanded as she tried to struggle. Her eyes became heavy and a haze appeared in her mind.

안개 조심

"Shit! What the hell!" Rukia yelled sitting up. She was bewildered to find herself in her bed. "How did I get here? Wasn't I just at the pool?" she frantically ran her hands through her hair.

"Uuh," came from beside her and the sounds of a throat being cleared.

"B-b-byakuya? W-what in the he-, what are you doing here?" Rukia practically shrieked.

"Well seeing as how I live here," her shocked brother said. Rukia must've been acting completely looney because it took a lot to shock Byakuya Kuchiki. "But I heard that you had collapsed at your swim meet and came to see if you were feeling better."

"Sorry brother, thank you for coming to see me," Rukia bowed her head. Crap, Kuchikis were not supposed to lose their cool and you most certainly did not raise your voice like that to Byakuya Kuchiki, if you knew what was best for you.

"I take it you feel better," he said, choosing to ignore her crazy rants from earlier.

"Yes, but what happened to me," she still felt as if a hazy cloud was covering her memories of the past day.

"You fainted during the swim meet, luckily a doctor was there and Nemu was there as well. The doctor, Aizen I believe his name was, said you probably passed out from not eating enough and Nemu brought you home to rest. That was around twenty-eight hours ago," he stood placing a warm bowl of soup in her hands. "Here Nemu just made this."

Rukia slowly lifted the spoon to her mouth. She didn't feel terribly hungry and she could've sworn she had had lunch that day before the swim meet.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"It's bad to mumble Rukia but I'll let it go this time," he dropped something into her lap. "Here you go, one of my customers said these are really easy to grow."

"Thank you brother," she said clearly this time, as her brother merely nodded and exited her room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Rukia picked up the seed packet he had dropped into her lap. "Nicotiana? How does he always manage to get me something different?" Rukia pulled open a draw in her bedside desk. She placed the new packet in their with the rest still waiting for a warmer day to be planted.

Byakuya may have a cold exterior but he always brought her some sort of plant to grow when he returned from his trips. Rukia wasn't sure if she would have enough room on the rooftop to plant all the seeds once spring came.

"Why did I faint?" she asked herself, standing to look at herself in the mirror as she set the bowl of soup on her dresser. At some point, someone, Rukia assumed it was Nemu, had changed her into a t-shirt and shorts.

She turned, knocking the soup from her dresser to the floor. "Crap, mo-fo," she cursed grabbing a dirty towel from her hamper. She got down on her hands and knees, using the towel to sop up the liquid.

She stopped as she noticed a pile of papers she had printed out earlier. "The most deadly of the sins, pride was said to give rise to all the others…" she read.

She stood quickly, the sentence jogging something in her memory. She clenched her fists, the soupy mess forgotten. "Those bastards knocked me out!"

꽃 씨앗

She was going to murder him, she decided. She would off him first, then go hunt down Hitsugaya. How dare they knock her out with some weird fumey thing!

Steaming mad, she made her way down the hallway at school, oblivious to the people diving out of her way. They didn't want to get in the way of the woman on a mission.

She stormed into her classroom looking to her desk. He wasn't there yet.

"Crap, shit, damn, freaking mo-fo muffin headed, jerk, piece of tard," issued from her mouth, as she made her way to her desk.

"Morning Kaien," she hissed at the bewilered boy as she slammed her book bag brutally onto her desk.

"Rukia, I see you're feeling better or is that an understatement?" he managed to say despite his shock.

"Listen up buddy boy and listen good," she turned jabbing her finger at him. "I am totally and seriously not in a good mood. So just keep your funnies to yourself or better yet go tell your bimbo, pole-loving girlfriend. She has three heads to listen to your lame jokes. The one on her shoulders and the two on her chest."

"I can't," he said awkwardly. Rukia looked up seeing the sadness on his face. "I broke up with Orihime the other day at the swim meet. Well, actually she broke up with me."

"Why, oh wait, I mean, I'm sorry to hear that," Rukia said catching herself. Not that she was really _too_ _devastated_ by the news of their break up.

"It's okay Ruk. She actually asked me if I wanted to break up because she thought that someone else was going to ask her out soon and she wasn't sure if she'd say 'no' to him."

Fat cow. "Who did she think was going to ask her?" Rukia chose to say instead.

"Kurosaki."

Rukia had a hard time deciding whether this should go on the side of reasons that she liked Ichigo or reasons why she hated him. Yes, he had broken them up, but he had hurt Kaien in the process.

She stood going to rest a hand on Kaien's should as he laid his head against his desk sighing. Rukia could almost feel the rain cloud forming above him.

Upon seeing Ichigo enter the classroom, she decided to add it to the hate side, feeling her previous anger towards him knocking her out begin to make her blood boil again. She reached over grabbing her weapon of choice, Kaien's super heavy duty, hardbound biology book (It probably weighed a good ten pounds!).

She was just about to go and initiate an attack when she stopped seeing the couple enter behind Ichigo. Following Ichigo, Hitsugaya entered the classroom holding Momo Hinamori's hand. She dropped the book in shock, feeling her jaw make a similar action. She heard a groan and looked down to where she had dropped the heavy-as-bricks book. She had dropped it right onto the back of Kaien's head.

충격

"Momo," Rukia growled.

"He's so so perfect. I still can't believe we're dating," said girl cooed, as she walked with Rukia after school.

"Momo."

"He just asked me at your last swim meet and you should've seen him, he looked so deliciously hot saying it."

"Momo!"

"God it's like a dream come true, and he's so sweet to me and his family is super nice and -"

"MOMO!!!"

Momo stopped once they had reached the parking lot and turned to look at Rukia, the stars still gleaming in her eyes, "Yes?"

"When were you planning on telling me?" Rukia said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm well, I was going to the other day, but your brother said you still weren't feeling good when I came to visit and I didn't get a chance to today because you figured it out first."

Rukia shut her eyes nodding her head, the annoyance still clearly etched across her face. 'I guess I'll have to just injure Hitsugaya to an inch within death now that he's dating Momo.'

She decided it was now or never to warn Momo. "Momo," Rukia grabbed her friend's hand. "They're not safe, none of them, not even Hitsugaya."

"What are you talking about?'

"They have something to do with your tattoo, I just know it and I have a feeling they also know about-" she was interruppted as a silver Hyundai Genesis Coupe pulled up, stopping in front of Momo. Hitsugaya got out and walked around to the passenger side door opening it for Momo.

"Oi Hitsugaya there's something that needs to be sorted out," Rukia said, trying to stop Momo as she got into the car.

"Kurosaki will take care of everything," he said simply, shutting Momo's door and walking around to the driver's side. Momo waved as Hitsugaya took off.

"That cocky, little-"

"I hope you're not talking about Toshiro. He gets mad at anyone who refers to him as little or short. Not that I'd tell on you or anything."

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you bastard what is your problem?" Rukia turned to face the dandelion head.

"Let's skip swimming today and go on a drive," he began walking into the parking lot.

"Are you ignoring me? And why would I waste my time missing swim practice with you?"

"Come on you stubborn ass," he grabbed her arm, pulling her along.

"I am not an ass you jerk!" she pouted as he stopped at his car, opening the door and grabbing her book bag, dropping it inside. She paused, distracted from the insult she was just about to make, "Where's your Lexus?"

"One of my sisters has it today," he said walking over to the driver's side of the Jaguar and getting in. "Come on!" he yelled at her. "I'll answer one of your questions if you get in."

"Fine," she huffed as she got in, pulling the door shut. He reached across and buckled her seat belt. "Buckle up for safety and you'd better hold on."

"Why?"

벨트는 매라

Rukia was glad for the seat belt as Ichigo finally stopped, thirty miles outside of town and Rukia opened the door, getting out with unsteady legs. He was the craziest driver she had ever met.

"You okay?" he smirked, getting out and following her as she haphazardly walked away from the car. "You look a little pale."

"That had to be the worst driving in the world. I don't think those speeds are even legal anywhere on this planet."

"Come on, you haven't even seen Shuuhei or Matsumoto when there's a sake sale going on in the next town over."

"Where are we?" she finally took in their surroundings. The stood on a grassy hill, a field below it, stretching further than her eyes could see.

"A place where I like to come and think," he took her hand, descending the hill. He led her to a giant tree halfway down the slope and the only tree that broke the flat skyline.

He hoisted her up onto one of the lower branches and gracefully pulled himself up beside her.

"So did you want that to be your question? Asking where we were that is," he said, reaching up to grab a branch above his head.

"Nice try but give me a second to think," Rukia stood, steadying herself with a hand on the tree's trunk.

He reached out his hand, and pressed it lightly against her cheek, his balance on the branch unwavering. Rukia felt the blush creep up in her cheeks and wondered if he could feel the heat radiating off of her face. He ran his free hand through his golden locks as he waited.

"Your hand, I know that you were injured for being an idiot and grabbing the knife but what happened to the wound?" she took the hand from her cheek and turned it palm side up to look at. "There isn't even a scar."

"You seem to forget who caused the cut in the first place," he avoided the question.

"Okay okay sorry, but you did promise to answer my question if I came with you."

His eyebrows knitted together in apparent disappointment at her observation, "I can't, well I can't really be injured."

"At all?"

"I can't be burned, cut, shot, beaten or damaged in any way that will kill me. I can't die of an illness or fall to my death from cliff. I can't be hung, drown or freeze to death."

Rukia reached out to him, noticing the uncertainty in his eyes as to what her reaction would be. "How?"

"It's part of who I am now," he took her outstretched hand, gently placing a kiss in the center of her palm before releasing it. She had never seen him with such a vulnerable look, as if he was afraid of Rukia rejecting him because of how he was.

She carefully thought over her question, and didn't know any other way of phrasing it, "What are you?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki," was his immediate answer as he began to pull himself higher up into the trees boughs.

"No not who … what," Rukia persisted as she reached up following Ichigo.

"I'm a human."

She looked up catching his brown eyes and saw his hesitation.

"Mostly," he added stopping to watch Rukia clamber up after him.

"Have you always been human?"

"I was more human when I was born, than after …" his voice trailed away.

"After?" Rukia prompted reaching up for another branch she couldn't quite reach. He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her up to stand next to him.

"After I was chosen," he stopped.

"Chosen for what," she whispered, as he reached up to stroke her cheek.

"I'm sorry my sweet. I can't tell you anymore than that," he leaned in, his face getting closer to hers. "I shouldn't have even told you anything to begin with but I can't resist you …"

Rukia could feel his breath on her lips, and her heart rate sped up as she felt her breaths shorten. He stopped, pulling himself back as if he had been stung. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I can't, I'm not allowed …"

"It's fine," Rukia quietly said, noting the panic and worry in his eyes.

A silent moment passed, the wind hushing the night was all that was heard. He turned back to the petite girl, "Shall we head back?"

"Sure."

선정

'_After I was chosen_'

"Chosen? What was he chosen for?" Rukia grumbled to herself walking to the library for lunch, not wanting to eat in her classroom with all the unwanted visitors and Orihime. She made it to a table and sat down, pulling out one of her textbooks. Momo had gone somewhere with Hitsugaya _again_ for lunch. She had asked Rukia if she wanted to come, but Rukia did not want to be the odd one out. She was still a bit angry with Hitsugaya anyway.

Rukia had plans today for lunch anyway. Kaien was supposed to eat with her after his meeting with his father and Rukia tried not to smile like an idiot at the thought of spending extra time with him, outside of class.

"Hey there my small one, eating alone today are we?"

"No, mister my name is Ichigo-nosy-as-hell-Kurosaki, for your information I'm meeting Kaien."

"Very well," he said, pulling out a chair and sitting in it, "I guess I'll be joining you then."

"I didn't invite you to," Rukia punched him in the arm.

"That's okay, since when do I need the permission from you to sit at a table in the library?"

"Don't push your luck, I still haven't forgiven you for knocking me out."

"That was over a week ago, and I apologized already."

"Well you should apologize to Kaien too," Rukia said, oblivious to Kaien walking up behind her. "Because of your stupid head, Orihime broke up with him."

"Apologize? She obviously wasn't very faithful if she broke up with him over a little trick like that. He should be thanking me."

"Perhaps you're right," Kaien agreed, making Rukia jump at his sudden announcement of his presence. He pulled a chair out, opposite Ichigo, and sat down. "Kurosaki, I still believe you're partially at fault."

"There's no way in heck I'm going to apologize to you," Ichigo stubbornly stated, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, scowl in place.

"Why don't we have a little wager then?" Kaien had Ichigo's interest.

"There's a rather large history exam coming up, that covers at least a thousand years worth of information. How about, whoever ranks higher is the one that is right and the lower ranking person is the one at fault."

"Kaien," Rukia interjected, "That's not very fa-"

"You're on," Ichigo said. "Are we_ just_ wagering our pride here?"

"Hmm if I win, you throw in a date with one of your sisters. I heard you have one more that just graduated from school."

"Fine but what do I get," Ichigo asked, eyebrow raised. "I heard you only have brothers."

"I can ask one of them if you'd like but I have a feeling that you want a girl," he mischievously smiled. "So how about Rukia, does she count?"

"Hell no Kaien," hissed Rukia. "What the-"

"Deal," Ichigo held his hand out to Kaien to shake.

"Okay," Kaien agreed, shaking his hand.

Ichigo stood, grabbing his bag, "See you tomorrow for the test."

"Wait, I did not okay this," Rukia tried to stop Ichigo, "Where are you going?"

"He's probably going to go and study, not that it will help much, there's going to be stuff on that test that we covered earlier in the year that he wasn't even here for," Kaien shrugged as if it was okay.

"Kaien."

"Don't worry Rukia, I doubt he'll beat me so he won't be taking you on some dumb date. Besides you owe me for dropping that book on my head. As if my head hasn't gone through enough trauma this year."

"It's about to go through a lot more if you don't start studying your ass off!"

거래

Somehow news of the bet had been spread throughout the entire school. Even the upperclassmen were interested in the results of the test. Angry and envious stares now followed Rukia around.

"Why does Kurosaki have to go on a date with her as an award?"

"Seems more like punishment to me."

"She's not even popular."

"Or pretty."

"Or nice."

"Or tall."

A scuffle was heard behind her and Matsumoto appeared by Rukia.

"Don't let them get to you hon," she happily said, crushing Rukia's face in-between her breasts in a hug. "I'm in the same boat as you. I have to go on a date with Kaien if Ichigo loses." Rukia doubted she had other girls calling her short and ugly.

"I'd gladly switch you," Rukia managed to gasp out from between Matsumoto's breasts.

"Ouch, that kinda makes me lose all that vigor I had towards taking the test," said Ichigo appearing, not paying heed to the numerous eyes that were now glued to him and his body.

"Oh well, too bad," Rukia choked out, now starting to be smothered.

"I said almost," he reached over and pulled Rukia out of Matsumoto's grasp. "But ya know, if I do win feel free to hug me just like Rangiku was hugging you. I know yours aren't as big as hers, but we can -"

Rukia elbowed him in the spleen, not even giving him a chance to finish his perverted thought. The stares from earlier, seemed to increase in their intensity, as if hoping to burn Rukia through glaring alone.

"I'm not going to say anything on that matter until after the results are posted. Good luck today Ichigo. Good luck to you to Matsumoto with what ever the results may be," she started on her way to their classroom.

존재란

Rukia doubted that any of the students from her school got much sleep that night, unless they were super duper anti-social, lame, had no life and were on sleeping pills.

Rukia was early to school the next day, as was apparently most the school. It seemed that half the school was trying to cram itself in the hallway, outside of her classroom. She couldn't even see the bulletin board where the results would be posted.

"I heard they weren't posted yet," Momo said, pushing her way to where Rukia stood. "Kaien is up by the board, he got here early and got a good spot."

"We still have twenty minutes before school starts," Rukia struggled to say as people started pushing and shoving. Everyone was trying to clear a path as Ichigo appeared, his siblings following him.

"Kenryu," he said to his brother. "Would you grab Rukia for me?"

Kenzaki rolled his eyes, but walked over to a group of people and after shoving some people aside, pulled Rukia from the mass of students.

"Me too," a waving hand said from behind a group of dumb girls.

"Momo," Hitsugaya said, forcing his way through the fan girls, that nearly fainted from being in close proximity with him, and pulled Momo from the tangle of limbs.

Kenzaki evilly smiled at Ichigo as he held Rukia's hand and lead her to stand by the board. The crowd reformed behind them, with more violence to try and get to the front.

"Yo," Ichigo said to her, punching Kenzaki as he tried to kiss Rukia's hand.

"Hey," Rukia replied.

A collective gasp was heard as the crowd began to part again and Yamamoto, the history teacher appeared, a folded piece of paper clasped in his hands.

"My my, I wish you guys would show this much anticipation for my classes," he said, as he took his sweet time hobbling to the board.

He tacked two pages to the board. A blank page covering the one with the scores underneath.

"Oops, my my I dropped a tack. This won't do, now corner is crinkled, oh my did I put it up upside down, nope guess not. Oh no, now is it backwards, nope I have it the right way, now it's off centered, a little to the left, whoops too far left, a little the right. Now it's slanting, there!" Never before in the history of man had it taken so long to hang up paper. "Hmm I think it looks good. What do you guys think?"

"YESS!!!!" was collectively heard from the crowd.

"Fine! Good luck everyone," he said turning as he looked at Kaien, before practically running away as fast as he could hobble out of there.

The crowd began to close again, leaving a small half-circle, in which Kaien, Ichigo and Rukia stood around the bulletin board. Kaien and Ichigo both reached up at the same time, Kaien grasped the top sheet of paper, hesitating as he looked at Ichigo then Rukia.

He yanked, pulling the blank page off and revealing the scores underneath.

그 결과는

* * *

_Now it's off to my granny's house and a week without cell phone service, internet and facebook. But I may have my friend check in from time to time so if there's any "emergencies" she's got your back! (kind of)_

_I hope the chapter was enjoyable and up to standard!_


	7. What Happened During Her Outing

_Yay!!!! So many reviews! Maybe I should do cliff hangers more often ... no I actually felt really bad about doing that. But I was trying to keep all the chapters relatively the same length and I was short short on time before publishing the last chapter! Sorry for any anticipation (Lo siento, Omlouvat se, Paumanhin, desole, 죄송함니다, Przepraszam). But here we go with a very interesting chapter (I hope) this is where the adventure part kicks in!_

_I added a section onto the last chapter, it's small but it's there to hopefully help :D_

_Blusake, Hatake Tsughi, ranmyaku-neko, NinjaBunnyOverlord and None93 : Super duper big sorry for the cliff and you are all super great for not sending me death threats for leaving off at such a crazy spot in the story!_

_Anna Haruno: Wow, me gusto su reseña, se muy divertido de leer. Sus respuestas fueron muy buenos y estoy muy contenta de que comprendes el pecado y la virtud cosa/idea con significa para si. Y gracias por leer mis escritos. (I hope my Spanish wasn't too awful)._

_Ranmyaku-neko: Aah sorry for the lack of IchiRuki, I'm sorry to say that it it might actually get worse down the line in the lacking, but don't worry my stories have happy endings._

_Nekura Enzeru: Sorry! Good catch there, when I write I sometimes forget that the readers don't know all the same info as me so it gets pretty random (You should see the rough drafts, especially before Trzy goes over them, it's ... well it's yikes). Thanks for the review and I changed that section so it should make a bit more sense now._

_Another big **Sorry** for all of you that wanted Rangiku Matsumoto to be lust, I'll tell you now it's a no go, because after watching the english dubbed version of Bleach the other day, I noticed just how much I disliked Rangiku's english voice actress and felt a sudden dislike to Rangiku in turn. So I shuffed her off onto another once again, don't hate me!_

_The random song: You'll be In My Heart - F.T. Island (In Korean)_

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach, in any way or any part. (Also don't own F.T. Island)**

_I'm actually super lame and bad at writing adventure/actiony/fighty scenes soooo one of these following scenes may completely suck._

* * *

오해

Everyone's breath was held as the blank sheet of paper fell to the floor. Kaien and Ichigo stood in front, blocking the scores from everyone else.

"Sorry Rangiku," Ichigo said as he pulled back. Rukia saw the paper.

**1. Ichigo Kurosaki  
2. Kaien Shiba  
3. Rukia Kuchiki  
4. Toshiro Hitsugaya  
… ****etc. ….**

"Guess you won't be getting to go on that date," Ichigo finished. "Let's get out of here before were stampeded." He took Rukia's hand, practically dragging her limp-from-shock-body, into their classroom.

Behind them a thundering of bodies was heard before Kaien shut the door muffling the noise, minutely.

"Well, I guess that was fun," Kaien said, awkwardly looking at Ichigo. He strode over to him his hand extended. "Good job."

"Thanks, but you shouldn't have picked history. That's my best subject." Ichigo smiled, shaking his hand and Matsumoto let out a small chuckle as if enjoying some inside joke.

"We'll have to do it again some time," Kaien nodded, completely oblivious to the short, black-haired mass of rage in very close proximity to him. "I need to earn back some of my honor but we can go on math or something else next time.

"Sure just tell me when and throw in another date with Rukia," Ichigo let go of his hand and turned to Rukia. "What should we do for our date my swee-"

He was cut off, by an uppercut to his lower jaw. "Idiots, don't go betting again!" Rukia's voice shrieked, reaching octaves that probably made some dogs go deaf a few miles away.

Kaien had a deer caught in the headlights look as he stared at Rukia then bolted for the door. He opened the door, swam his way through the still present crowd and took off down the hallway, Rukia hot on his heels.

이건 데이트가있다

Rukia had never spent so much time getting dressed in her life. Was this skirt too short? Was the shirt too fancy? What color would he be wearing? What were they going to go and do? Would she need athletic shoes or she wear heels?

A large of pile of clothing had gradually begun to build as Rukia had decided what to wear on her outing with Ichigo that day.

"Rukia," Nemu hesitated as she stepped into her room. It looked like a hurricane had just been through. "Do you need some help?"

"I don't know what to wear Nemu!" Rukia struggled to say as she emerged from a pile of clothes behind Nemu.

"Gah! What were you doing under there?"

"I can't believe I'm even worrying this much! Why do I even care?"

"Um Rukia?"

"It was just some dumb bet!"

"Rukia," Nemu said, roughly shoving a white box into her arms and knocking her backwards off atop the pile of clothing. "Here this is from your brother. He got it when he was visiting your godfather in Paris."

"It's from Ukitake?" Rukia asked, as she righted herself.

Nemu nodded and Rukia hastily pulled off the lid. "Perfect."

격분

Ukitake had a knack of sending her gifts when she was in need. He conveniently sent her a dress to wear to a fancy party at the opening of one of the hotels, he sent her snow clothes before her big skiing trip and he even sent her a new bathrobe before her trip to the hot springs. That man had some sort of sixth sense.

"Rukia," Nemu called from downstairs. "Someone is here to see you."

"Okay," she had a feeling she knew who it was. She glanced at the clock, crap, he was early. Rukia pulled her black leggings on under the dark purple, long sleeve dress and slipped her feet into her flats. The purple dress reached down to her knees and Rukia buttoned the wide black belt around her waist.

She ran downstairs straight into Nemu. "Aah Rukia, careful! Hmm are you sure you're feeling okay?" Nemu said as she steadied the smaller girl.

"Pfffbt."

Rukia turned at the noise and saw Ichigo, hand over his mouth, holding back a laugh. "You're just a hazard to everyone aren't you?"

"Shut up," Rukia said under her breath as Nemu let go of her. "Bye Nemu I'll see you later."

"Rukia, your jacket," Nemu handed her a black coat and shoved her towards Ichigo.

Ichigo offered Rukia his arm, "Shall we go."

"Let's get this over with," Rukia ignored his arm and walked out the door.

간다

"So what's the plan for tonight?" she asked, once seated in his car.

"I did ask you what you would like to do on this date but, since you didn't give me an answer you're going to have to wait and see."

"I gave you an answer."

"You punched me in the face."

"Yeah, an answer … of sort," she nodded.

"Not a very nice answer," he scoffed.

He pulled the car into a plowed parking lot after fifteen minutes of driving. Ichigo parked in the empty lot. It was dark by then, and the only light Rukia could see was coming from behind a large building near the edge of the parking lot.

He opened her door, offering Rukia his hand. She took it, blushing as his grip tightened around her hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Come on."

He led her around the building and her eyes were temporarily blinded by the sudden reintroduction to light.

She felt her stomach slightly drop as she took in the surroundings, finally figuring out what he had in mind.

"Ice skating?" she gaped.

"Yep," Ichigo smiled not noticing the look of worry that had overtaken her face.

"Umm," she didn't want to but she had to tell him.

"Ichi-" she was cut off as he pulled her over to sit on a bench. He reached down and pulled a pair of skates out from under the bench, handing them to her.

Rukia just stared at them blushing, "Uh."

"Here let me help," Ichigo said as he kneeled in front of her. He pulled off her flats and slipped on the socks that had been lying atop the skates. His actions were gentle as he slipped on her skates and laced them up.

"Good?" he asked, sitting back on his heels.

Rukia nodded. "Ummm?"

"Hmm?" he replied not looking at her. He sat on the bench next to her and started pulling off his shoes and pulled out another pair of skates from underneath the bench.

"Uh, well you see, my brother didn't ever really take me to do stuff like this when I was younger and I never ended up going so …"

"Yea," he said, still only half listening as he laced up his skates.

Rukia's eyebrow quirked in annoyance at his complete lack of attention to the confession she was trying to make.

"You remind me of a yellow toilet bowl brush," she chose to say instead.

"What?" he looked up at her. Yep, she had his attention now.

"I'm trying to tell you something important," she hissed.

"Well just spit it out then," he got to his feet and pulled her onto her own wobbly skate-clad feet.

"Well, I don't really know how to, well you know," she murmured hoping he would catch on.

No such luck.

He started dragging her to the rink.

"Here," he said handing her a pair of gloves as he slipped his own pair on.

"Umm," Rukia tried again, he reached over and pulled her gloves onto her hands. They reached the edge of the rink.

"Come on," he attempted to push her out onto the ice.

"Iecanieskae," she frantically spit out.

"Huh?"

Rukia took a deep, steadying breath, "I don't know how to ice skate idiot! I've been trying to tell you the whole time you dumber than dumb butt!"

"How was I supposed to understand any of that? You were just speaking gibberish."

"No, you just weren't listening."

"Rukia, I don't think anyone on this planet would understand what you were trying to say."

"Well, no one can understand a word you say because they're always blinded by your hair."

"What does that have to do with their hearing?"

Silent standoff. "What was the original problem again?" he asked scratching his head.

"I don't know how to ice skate," Rukia sighed.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with that," he stepped onto the ice, and turned offering his hand to her.

"It won't ruin the evening you had planned?"

"Nope, the only thing that would ruin it would be if I were to spend the night with someone other than you."

Rukia blushed as she hesitantly took his outstretched hand. She placed her hand in his and his fingers closed over hers as he pulled her onto the ice.

She wobbled and slipped a bit but he didn't let her fall. He began to lead her around the rink.

Rukia glanced around before fastening her concentration back to her feet, "Is there anyone else here?"

"Nope," he grinned, "I rented the place for tonight."

"How?"

"I know someone, that knows someone, that knows someone that owns this rink."

"You're actually a very shady person aren't you?"

"That's not very nice my small one."

"Are you part of the mafia or Yakuza?"

He scoffed, "No, but I've had dealings with both."

"You're such an enigma."

"That may be so, I feel that you know a bit more about me than I do about you at the moment," he said, wincing slightly at the death grip Rukia had on his hand.

"I do? Well, what would you like to know?" Rukia stared at the ice the whole time, trying to keep her balance.

"Family?"

"Hmm you first," Rukia smiled.

"Well," he stared at nothing in particular as he contemplated how to answer. "If I promise to tell you the truth you aren't allowed to question what I tell you."

"If you spew out some nonsense about being dropped off by the stork, then there's going to be questions, otherwise I promise, no questions."

He hesitated, "I umm was adopted when I was eighteen."

"But-"

"You promised."

"Okay," Rukia grumbled, wishing she hadn't agreed. How could he be eighteen when he was in the same year as her, let alone have been adopted when he was eighteen? That would mean he was adopted very recently but he acted like he had known Hitsugaya and Matsumoto for ages.

"I lived with my family, my birth family that is, in Japan. I had two little sisters, different as could be and my mother, she was the most beautiful person in my life."

He swallowed, as if trying to clear a bitter taste from his mouth.

"What of your father," Rukia hesitated to ask.

"My father," Ichigo paused, "was a complete idiot."

"Umm," what to say what to say? "Oh..."

"When civil war broke out we went to live on the mainland, eventually ending up in Europe, in what's now known as Italy."

He was so deep in thought he didn't notice the look of confusion on Rukia's face. He kept a firm grasp on her hand, as if she would escape from him if set free.

"One night, after a few years of living there, my mother was taken from me," darkness seemed to settle into his eyes, as he came to a stop by the side of the rink. "She was murdered by a serial killer with a sick fetish."

"Ichigo-"

"With his selfish actions he tore from my family, our center." He looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry Ichigo," Rukia whispered, "I'm sorry for asking and for what happened and for-"

Her voice trailed away as he shook his head. "I've had many years to deal with my feelings towards that man. I thought I had made peace with my past a long time ago but I guess some feelings just never die."

He reached up a gloved hand, tucking a lock of hair behind Rukia's ear and resumed skating, pulling Rukia along with him. "The rest of my family was able to live out better lives, my father returned to Japan many years later and spent the rest of his life there. "

"Are your sisters … ?"

"No, they passed many many years ago."

"Ichigo, your story is way too confusing, what-"

"You said no questions."

"I know, I'm just confused. Japan hasn't had a civil war in the last twenty years."

"I didn't say it was in the last twenty years did I?"

"But, but eighteen and, just wait, aagh my head," she glared at him. "This is all your fault for confusing me."

"You can believe me or not, but I was completely honest in my words, now it's your turn," he changed the subject, laughter on his lips, but darkness still in his eyes.

Rukia couldn't believe he was just going to leave it at that. She let out a loud huff of air, deciding to mull it over later, when she wasn't in danger of slipping every which way. "I live with just my brother, my parents, th-they passed away," she bit her lip. She didn't feel like she should add the exact cause of their passing.

"I'm sorry."

"No it's fine, it happened when I was only a few years old. We didn't have any close relative so my brother and I were raised by my Godfather in Europe for awhile after that."

He was silent as she paused, collecting her thoughts, "My brother," Rukia continued, "became rather successful in the hotel business and after we we're able to access our inheritance, we moved back to Japan. And here I am now."

He let go of her hand as she slowly skated away from him. She concentrated on her footing, a crease appearing on her forehead. He skated with ease to her side.

"Your story was rather short," he said, startling her. She slipped, landing hard on her butt.

He quickly turned and skated back to her. He fell to one knee, reaching out with a gloved hand and lifting her eyes to meet his. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she seethed, her butt protesting otherwise.

She ungracefully attempted to stand, but slipped, landing back on the ice. Ichigo stood, fighting back his chuckle.

"I think I know what you'd really like to do to me right now," said Ichigo helping her to her feet. He pulled her against him.

"If what your thinking of starts with a 'K' and ends with an 'S' then you are absolutely correct," she grumbled struggling to keep on her feet.

"You really want to?" he sounded slightly shocked.

"Of course, what else would I do to the freaking idiot that caused me to embarrass myself?"

He was confused, "Do you always kiss the people you're mad at?"

"_Kiss_?! What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about _k__icking-your-as__s_," she slowly enunciated.

"Oh," he muttered blushing. "Not quite what I had in mind."

"What were you thinking of? Oh, wait why did you think I would kiss you? Ooooh," finally Rukia's eyes widened in understanding. "F-fool why would I kiss you after you embarrassed me?"

"So you aren't having fun?" his face slightly fell.

"I didn't say that, it's just I usually don't do things like this that are out of my comfort zone."

"Oh," he said with a slight smile, "Well what else haven't you done and we'll do it next time."

다음 번엔

Ichigo had dropped her off that night, but hadn't kissed her. It seemed like he had wanted to but he had pulled back. Rukia was confused. Did he not like her like that?

It didn't help that he had thrown her a curve ball with his age and the civil war thing. In every situation she considered, his words just didn't make any sense. There were no plausible explanations other than he had lied to her.

Rukia's frustrations were only added to, as she began to see less and less of Momo. Momo now spent almost all her time with Hitsugaya, in and out of school. She talked to Rukia less and began to lose her normally bubbly personality.

Rukia was worried and finally convinced Momo to come out with her for a day on the weekend. Just the two of them, no Hitsugaya.

"Rukia!" Momo called as she nearly crashed into her waiting friend.

"Momo," Rukia smiled as Momo steadied herself. Momo put her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

"Sorry, I slept in."

"No problem, you're not late."

"Rukia, I hate to cut into our mall time but I need to stop at the bank first," Momo looked down the street. "There's one just down the block, and it shouldn't be that busy because it's after the lunch bustle."

"Sure, sure no problem," Rukia nodded.

There was a line, of about seven people in front of Momo. The teller was rather young and appeared to be under a great deal of stress as she kept glaring at the line, and there didn't appear to be anyone else working.

"What's with the wait?" Momo grumbled.

"Patience now Momo," chuckled Rukia.

A man ahead of them walked up to the teller, reaching his hand in to his long overcoat. Rukia saw it before anyone else did, even the teller. He pulled a handgun from his jacket and pointed directly in between the teller's eyes.

"I want all the money you currently have, that means any money you have access to," his gruff voice said, his gun not wavering from the woman.

To Rukia's horror, the man directly behind the one in the overcoat pulled out his own gun and turned to face her and the rest of the line.

An accomplice, "All of you take out your cell phones and slide them across the floor towards me," the man said.

Rukia hesitated but pulled out her phone, as Momo took out hers. They both bent down slightly, pushing their phones in the direction of the man's feet.

"Good, now go face that wall and put your hands flat against it, above your heads," the accomplice chuckled. He pulled lengths of rope from his jacket and walked towards them.

He tucked his gun back inside his jacket as he began to pull people's' hands down, tying them behind their backs.

The teller was now handing bags, stuffed full of money over the counter to the first man.

Rukia flinched as she heard Momo yelp when the accomplice tied her hands.

"Leave her alone," Rukia snapped at him.

"What?" the man was startled. He let go of Momo's knotted hands and walked behind Rukia. He pushed her roughly against the wall as he yanked her hands down behind her back.

"What did you say?" he seemed amused as he wrapped the rope tightly about her wrists. He knotted the ends and put his hands up against the wall on either side of Rukia's head. "I asked you what you said girl!"

"I told you to leave her alone," Rukia steadily replied.

"Fine, I'll leave her alone but that means I can have my fun with you instead right?" he leaned forward and Rukia could feel his hot breath on her ear.

Rukia squeezed her eyes shut, trying to decide whether she should try and head butt him or go for the "money" shot but before she made up her mind, the man disappeared from behind her.

It took Rukia a second to realize that the disgusting man was no longer there. She turned quickly almost losing her balance.

Both the bank robbers were behind her, but now between them stood Shuuhei Hisagi and Kenzaki, as well as another girl Rukia had never seen before.

"Sorry Rukia, hope he didn't do anything to you," Kenzaki said winking at her.

Rukia could only shake her head mutely as she watched Hisagi turn to look at the first crook.

'What the heck is going on?'

"He's the only one possessed," he said after a minute, motioning for Kenzaki to take care of the other one.

'Possessed? By what?'

Kenzaki turned to the accomplice, "Okay okay," he sighed. "Why do I always get the small fry?"

"Small fry? Don't make hurt you kid," the accomplice pulled his gun out of his jacket pocket. It would prove to be to no avail though, as Kenzaki quickly stepped towards the man and reached out with one hand, knocking the gun to the ground.

"God, you're slow," Kenzaki almost sounded sad that the crook had not put up more of a challenge. He placed a well aim chop to the man's neck, knocking him out.

Hisagi now had the other man trapped by his throat against a wall. Hisagi put more weight on his left hand, causing the man to gag.

"Time to end this," he said quietly.

'Was he going to kill him?' Rukia felt panicked. Should she do something? Before she could act Hisagi had thrown his right hand straight out.

She noticed a tattoo on his wrist, one just like Hitsugaya's. The tattoo grew and appeared to melt before her eyes until it had slipped down his wrist and began to pool in the center of his palm. He tilted his palm downwards and the black liquid slowly fell from his hand in a long strand. It began to widen and flatten out as it dropped lower.

Rukia gasped as she recognized the shape the black liquid now resembled. The downward progression stopped and the color changed to silver as Hisagi now stood clasping a sword in his hand.

"Who are you," the pinned man gasped out.

"Me?" Hisagi seemed amused by the question. "Right now I'm your savior."

The man grimaced, "What are you saving me from?"

"Your greedy soul."

Rukia saw the glint of the sword before Hisagi pierced the man through his right shoulder. The man screamed and cursed as he fell to his knees, his upper body kept upright by the sword still held in Hisagi's hand.

"Got ya," Hisagi smirked. He ran his free hand up the half of the blade not embedded in flesh, "Come."

Rukia's eyes widened as a dark stream rose from the man's chest and slowly began to wind its way up the blade.

'Blood?' No it was darker than blood and whatever it was almost appeared to be a gas rather than liquid. The coiling continued, over the guard and the hilt, onto Hisagi's hand. It began to coalesce around his wrist as the tail end wound it's way up the blade. Hisagi freed his sword, the end stained scarlet and the tail disappeared into the blackness circling his wrist.

The black substance began to dissapate and the tattoo on Hisagi's wrist darkened.

The man on the floor slumped over and passed out, as a hissing sound ensued and his wound stitched itself together.

Hisagi opened his hand, the sword fell to the ground and shattered before hitting the floor. The air glittered with the shards momentarily before flickering out of sight.

Hisagi's tattoo was now the darkest shade of black, and the skin surrounding it appeared irritated and inflamed.

Hisagi's face began to flush and his breathing became labored. He leaned over his hands on his knees, as his whole frame shook. He pulled out his cell phone and threw it at Kenzaki. "We're all done here, call the sweepers."

수해 히사기

* * *

_Whew done! :D _

_Questions? Feel free to ask, but I may have to answer you later because right now I'm working on multiple chapters at once, they all have to do with the large amount of info I still have yet to present._

_Stay Strong (in other words, hold on, I know I keep putting off answering/filling in on questions but the next chapter is the start! At least it's supposed to be, I'll have to see how things go down...)_

_ Fighting!_

_-Tres_


	8. When Façades Begin to Break

_Okay so I've been reviewing my writings lately and I have to say I'm very disappointed with myself. :(_

_I've noticed that instead of just writing the story I've been worrying more about the length and trying to cut down the words and keep all the chapters even, but I decided screw it! It's better to have an interesting story, rather than chapters that are consistent in length right?_

_I hope ..._

_Hmm in the story there may be random references to Italy and the mafia and such and such but it isn't really for any important reason, it's just because I've started to watch Katekyo Hitman, Reborn! and really like it :) know any good stories written for that series?_

_Hatake Tsughi - I was just about to start watching 07 Ghost!!!! (it was a toss up between that and Reborn! But I went with Reborn!) Is this a series worth watching? I hope that my ideas aren't too similar to the bishops, but I read a summary on the series and it does sound rather intriguing, thanks for the review too :)_

_blusake - sorry for all the questions this story caused :( feel free to ask though. Despite what you say, you seem to know a lot more about Japanese history that I do, but I think you might be possibly channeling me .... I was working on one of the next chapters and then went to read your review and one of your questions was super similar to one that Rukia asks later on (you know what they say, "Great minds think alike") I did do some background research on the history of Japan and Italy but don't worry, everything should become more clear later on (I hope). I wasn't really going to have anything on why Ukitake has such a keen gift sense but since your interested I can add a quick comment in about it later down the line :) and Momo's behavior change will also be elaborated on later too. Thanks for the review :)_

_Anna Haruno - Yep, I went to go and read some of your stories and they were in Spanish! (*bzz bzz, I can't really read Spanish) I did take a few years of Spanish in high school (and actually know more Spanish than Korean) but my Spanish is actually really horrible. Matsumoto's sin will be revealed in this chapter and I have a reason for her being the sin that she is. You're right on Hisagi and the exorcism/possession idea (those will be talked about in a diff. chapter) umm next, the virtues role will also be revealed later. Right on the unknown girl guess (you're on a roll) and the tattoo thing is talked about a little in this chapter but elaborated more in one of the next chapters. And last but not least, GOLD STAR on the Ichigo/Rukia thing! (You're almost almost spot on with all the guesses) There will be a scene a bit later talking more about it. Thanks for the beautiful review :)_

_None93 - I know I feel like my updates are getting further and further apart but don't worry I'm not going to quit half way through :)_

_Nekura Enzeru - Sorry that there's so much craziness (I think it's partly due to the heat and the multiple coffee drinks I've been having) but hopefully my above solution will help my writing now that my focus has returned to the actual story rather than the length._

_Well chapter 8 is up and jammed full of info in the second half. Sorry it will most likely be confusing but the next few chapters are all about the information :) I'm trying to somewhat space out the delivery of the info so I don't jam it down the throat all at once type of thing._

_Random song of interest: The Everglow - Mae_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Bleach, or _Twilight_ (Or Mae)

* * *

짜아외 변켱

What happened to her old self? The one that spent most of her time alone, the diligent student, that never missed class and most certainly did not get in cars with strangers whom had just stopped a bank robbery with their bare hands and a sword (god only knows where from). What the heck was going on?

"What the heck is going on?" Rukia gaped from the backseat of the car. Hisagi was slumped over, cringing in the passenger seat as Kenzaki drove. Rukia worked to keep calm as the car veered sharply, taking off down some unknown road.

Shortly after Kenzaki had made his call, a blue haired man followed by a rather pale, dark haired man, had entered the bank. They went and exchanged a few quick words with Kenzaki and the next thing Rukia knew she was dragged by Kenzaki to the back seat of a car, next to Momo. The rest of those previously held captive we're kept in the bank by the pair of strange men, despite the attempts of many to leave and flee what Rukia probably thought they considered utter madness.

"It's alright Rukia," Momo said from beside her. The unknown girl, Rukia had seen enter the bank earlier with Kenzaki and Hisagi, now seated next to Momo, nodded in agreement.

"That wasn't what I was asking Momo!" Rukia was contemplating jumping from the car, but stopped as she saw the speedometer crawl up to 100m kph. "What did Hisagi do and what's wrong with him? How can you act so calm Momo? Who were those people that came to the bank? What's going to happen to the rest of the people that were held captive? And who the hell are you?" she rounded on the girl sitting on Momo's other side.

"Umm"

"Just answer her damn questions," Hisagi ground out. "If it'll get her to shut up, do it."

"Well," Momo hesitated. "Uh this is Yoo Hee," she pointed to the black-haired girl beside her. Why was Momo the one answering her questions? Rukia fought down the feelings of fear, keeping her outward appearance calm. She tried to brush the uncertainty away in trusting her friend, but there remained shadows of doubt.

Momo's vague answer did nothing for Rukia, "Aaand?"

"We're getting nowhere," Momo sighed. "Well her name is Yoo Hee, she's Ichigo's and Hisagi's and everyone else in the family's adopted sister. Well everyone except for Kenzaki because she's married to him."

"Married?" great, what sitcom did Momo steal that idea from? The underage high school boy, married to the older lady who knew a crazy guy that went around stabbing people with a sword.

Rukia stared at Momo, trying to guess whether or not she was lying, "Whatever I'm just going to ignore that, because that isn't the issue now. What was with Hisagi and the sword and that guy? Did he really just stab some guy as if he were a samurai or ninja or something?"

"Well, um the sword, that's kind of complicated but what Hisagi did was something akin to an exorcism," Momo said in her same calm voice.

Rukia nodded, "Riiight," these people were crazy and had somehow dragged down Momo with them. Maybe they were a traveling acting troupe (a psychopathic one at that) and they had put on a performance. But what about the sword? A slight of hand, a magic trick? And Rukia was almost a hundred percent certain that Hisagi had actually stabbed the would be burglar. Was Hisagi crazy or was he a mass serial killer?

"What's going to happen to the rest of the people that were held captive in the bank? We can't just leave them there!"

"Those two men you saw as we were leaving are family friends, they're going to take make sure everyone's unharmed."

Rukia was disturbed by Momo's calm demeanor. Momo acted as if she was in on some big secret. Rukia was sure that Momo was not undergoing the same interwhirlings of anxiety and confusion that she herself currently felt. Why though? What had happened to the Momo that Rukia used to have to protect?

"Where are you taking me and Momo?"

"Our family has a house a little ways out of town," Kenzaki said, not taking his eyes off the road. "It's best to go there for now."

"Why did you take us with you though?" Rukia glared up at Kenzaki.

"Momo just tagged along actually. I'm sure Toshiro was on his way to get her and we just weren't quite sure what to do with you," Kenzaki glanced at her in the rear view mirror.

"What?"

Momo rested her hand on top of Rukia's, "You're safe Rukia, the family wouldn't let anything happen to you, especially Ichigo."

"Momo what is this "family" crap? You act as if you're part of their family."

"Well Rukia technically I am."

"What?"

"Toshiro, Ichigo, Rangiku, all of them are my real family now."

가족

Rukia decided that she was going to slap Momo silly once she got her away from the "crazy" people. After fifteen minutes of driving, Kenzaki stopped the car outside of a large house in the middle of nowhere.

'This doesn't look good,' Rukia mentally cursed. 'This has got to be the plot straight out of a bad horror movie. Does Ichigo know his family is crazy as shat?'

Rukia felt a sadness sweep her heart. Ichigo. What was his real involvement in all this? Was this his idea of a joke and if so what had she done to deserve it? Could she trust him? But now was not the time to ponder such questions. Her feeling of fear overpowered her interminglings of curiosity and her first priority became to get herself and Momo away from Ichigo's family.

Rukia opened her door and started pulling Momo with her, "Come on Momo," her voice strained. "We have to get to somewhere safe. These people fell off their rockers a long time ago."

"Rukia stop," Momo dug her heels into the grass and tugged Rukia back. "Everything is fine, just hear us out."

"Momo I'm not going to leave you here, you idiot," Rukia ground out. A hand clasped Rukia on the shoulder and she turned, releasing Momo's hand.

"Ah and I thought I was the only idiot in your life, my little one," Ichigo smiled to her. Despite the smile on his lips, the expression did not reach his eyes, that stayed heavy with looks of worry.

"I-ichigo," Rukia pulled away from him, "you and your family, you're all freaking nuts, insane!"

"Insane? That kinda hurts," Hisagi said getting from the car and Momo rushed over to help him towards the house.

"Shut up Shuuhei," Ichigo turned back to Rukia, holding out his hand to her, "Rukia," She backed away slowly, "Rukia, come here please, I promise to explain."

"No Ichigo, I don't know why I was brought here and I don't know who to believe anymore!" she turned, running back up the road. Ichigo caught up with her in three long strides, stopping her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Let go of me," she squirmed.

"Rukia," he hissed from behind her, as she kicked him in the shin. "Stop, you do not want to make me angry." Rukia hesitated; she had never heard him talk in such a harsh tone to her before.

"I-ichigo, I just want to be alone."

"I'm sorry, but I want you to understand first."

"Ichigo," Kenzaki called, walking over with Yoo Hee as Ichigo spun around, turning Rukia with him.

Ichigo leaned his face over Rukia's shoulder and glared at Kenzaki and Yoo Hee. "Why did you bring her here?"

"She saw the cleansing of Shuuhei's demon, and I thought you might want to talk to her before she loses her 'self' that knows you" Kenzaki took a step in front of Yoo Hee as if to protect her from Ichigo.

"Ichigo, we had no choice, you know the rules, no outsiders," Yoo Hee held up her hands, trying to calm Ichigo.

"She's not going to cause any harm to us, just let her be," Ichigo growled and Rukia could feel the vibrations from his voice on her cheek.

"We can only let it go for so long, the process always goes the same way, with everyone we meet," Kenzaki said in a hard voice.

"I-I know but please just let me, for now, while I still can," Ichigo stumbled over his words as he pulled Rukia closer to his body.

"We have to consider the family. Our secrecy always comes first. Besides the longer she spends with us, the harder it will be to modify her memory," Kenzaki's eyes flashed in Rukia's direction.

"She's not told anyone anything about us. We have no reason to mingle in her memories," Ichigo tightened his arms around Rukia's waist.

"Ichigo she isn't yours, she isn't even supposed to have part in all this," Kenzaki took a step towards Ichigo.

"Kenryuu," Yoo Hee murmured, placing her hand on his arm.

"I'm doing what needs to be done for the family, Yoo Hee, you know that it must be done."

"Let him be for now, it will do no harm and the Epistle has yet to return."

"Fine, fine!" Kenzaki turned to the house, "take her away from here but I expect to see both of you at school tomorrow."

Ichigo watched Kenzaki stomp away towards the house and merely nodded silently to Yoo Hee. He turned, releasing Rukia to take her hand instead, and began pulling her after him, as Yoo Hee followed Kenzaki into the house.

"I-ichigo?" Rukia stuttered as made his way to the building beside the house. He took her through a side door into a large garage.

"Get in, I need to grab something," he pushed her in the direction of the ten car line up.

He left out the same door, Rukia could register that he had released her hand.

Was it safe to go with Ichigo? Rukia looked around for any of the car keys, she would run instead. 'Crap,' she stopped, 'No keys,' not to mention she didn't have a license and she had no idea where she was in the first place.

"Rukia," Ichigo reappeared, a bag slung over his shoulder, "what are you doing?"

"N-nothing, I just don't see why I should do as you say."

"So you'd prefer to stay here, I don't think that'd be a very good idea."

"I didn't say that, I just don't know why I should trust you."

Ichigo sighed heavily, ruffling his hair, "I'm going to take you home," Rukia raised her eyebrows, "I promise."

"B-but," she looked around for an exit.

"Rukia," Ichigo strode over, reaching up to clasp her face in both of his hands. "Stop being so stubborn."

"Why? Nothing about you makes sense, not you, not your past, not your family, nothing! Hisagi stabbed someone, and Kenzaki wants to do something to my memory. Momo isn't who she used to be and she's telling me she's part of your family now. I-I don't know what to do anymore."

"I know and I apologize for being the cause of all that but you need sleep, I promise we'll smooth things over tomorrow," he murmured as he rubbed small circles on her cheeks.

"But-"

"Rukia, you needn't be afraid when you're with me," he took one of her hands pressing it over his chest, above his heart. Rukia felt the steady, calm beating under her fingertips as she hesitantly looked up. "I won't let anything bad happen to you."

His brown eyes were soft underneath his scowling brow, as he steadily met her gaze. In his eyes Rukia saw the uncertainty, and the traces of vulnerability, vulnerability to her and her feelings towards him.

"Are you scared?" he whispered.

Rukia's eyes widened. Was she scared?

"No." She hadn't realized it, her fear had begun to ebb away once Ichigo had been with her again. The feelings of unease, she was sure she should be undergoing, had been replaced by a quiet calm that had gradually begun to ease her inner panic.

He softly smiled and closed his eyes, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers. "At least that makes one of us."

Despite her brain screaming at her to run and get out of there, another voice told her not to leave the man now in front of her. She had always listened to what her mind told her, but now the other voice was too loud to ignore.

"F-fine," this time she would listen to the other voice, her heart. "I'll, I'll go with you," she said causing him to open his eyes.

"What did you say?"

"I said I'd go with you, s-stupid."

"Ah I see you're almost back to normal," he grinned pulling away from her. "Let us go then."

"You promise you're taking me home?" Rukia knew it wouldn't matter, at that moment part of her was saying she'd follow him anywhere, despite the mystery that seemed to hover about him.

"I promise."

"Okay," Rukia walked over the passenger side of the Lexus, reaching for the handle.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ichigo called to her as he walked further down the row of cars.

"You're supposed to be taking me home. I'm getting in your car."

"Heh," He grinned holding up a set of keys, a large Lamborghini key chain visible on the ring. "We're going to take the Gallardo, I'm sure Kenzaki won't mind if I borrow his car."

따르다

The ride back had been silent due to Rukia's swimming thoughts and partly because she was partially paralyzed in fear from Ichigo's insane driving. Ichigo didn't look at her the whole time, keeping his eyes on the road ahead, glazed over as his hands tightly gripped the steering wheel. She glanced over, taking in his view in profile, her heart still fluttering as it had during their first meeting.

The car squealed to a stop in the underground parking lot of the hotel, and Rukia slowly unclasped her hands from the seat, her fingers aching from the death grip she had had on the seat cushion.

Ichigo had already gotten out and now stood smirking beside her as he pulled open her door. "What's wrong? It wasn't that bad was it?"

"You-have-got-to-be-the-worst-driver-ever! And what's with the crazy mood swings, you were all doom and gloom a minute ago and now your ready to verbally battle it out with me." Rukia went to pound the button for the elevator.

"What a way to thank me," he grumbled walking to stand by her. "Make sure your up early tomorrow, I'll come and pick you up for school."

Despite herself, Rukia blurted out, "Are you going home?"

"Nah, my family and I are experiencing some difficulties right now," he shrugged as the elevator bell dinged and the door slid open.

Difficulties because of her? Rukia walked in, turning around to look back at him, "Are you coming."

"Hmm, this is the first clear night we've had in awhile so I think I'll go camp out somewhere and gaze at the stars," he grinned as he reached inside and hit the button for her floor. "Good night."

"No wait," Rukia reached out, stopping the doors from closing.

"Yes?" he seemed amused by her actions.

Rukia blushed, "Umm if you want you could come up and stay with me, well I don't mean with me, with me. You know just in my house somewhere, not in the same room or anything. Just for tonight because you're already here and everything already and you know…"

He smirked at her, "Alright if you insist, just remember that you're the one that asked me."

He stepped in, standing directly in front of her, looking towards the back of the elevator, as the doors closed behind him and the elevator began to rise.

"You're facing the wrong way you know," Rukia looked down, embarrassed that he stood less than six inches from her.

"Sometimes it doesn't hurt to do things differently."

어려움

Rukia made sure no one else was in the house before she ushered Ichigo into her house. She pulled open the door to one of the vacant bedrooms and shoved Ichigo inside.

"N-night, see you in the morning," Rukia practically ran to her bedroom, shutting her door behind her and slumping against it.

Ichigo, in her house, at night, the two of them alone. Rukia blushed, no, there were other issues that she should be thinking about right now. She rubbed her temples; she didn't even know where to start. The events of the day didn't add up.

Where to begin?

First off there was whatever Hisagi had just done. There was no denying it, Rukia had seen his tattoo moving and then a sword forming in his hand. But how? How had it happened? And how had Hisagi shown up at the right moment and at the right location to stop the robbery from taking place? Why did he only stab the first robber and not the accomplice?

Next was Momo, the girl had become more and more distant with everyone and Rukia was not the only one to notice it. She had become more calm, and level headed, much more mature. She now seemed to be more part of Ichigo's group than anyone else and why had Hitsugaya suddenly decided to date her? There had been no indication that he felt anything towards Momo before he had asked her out.

Then there was Ichigo's past. What was this civil war he had mentioned? And how could he be eighteen now and have been adopted when he was eighteen? He said he had come to terms with his mother's death but why did he speak with such regret about her killer?

Disregarding his past, there was Ichigo himself. Why did he seem to know all this information he shouldn't? How did he know about Momo, about her tattoo and her attack? What did he mean he used to be more human before he was chosen and why did he seem reluctant to talk about what he was chosen for and why?

And why was she so drawn to him? True it had originally been due to his looks but even now she still felt an insatiable pull to be with him and near him whenever he was around. She had never felt this way about anyone before, not even Kaien.

Lastly there was those tattoos. Rukia had almost forgotten all about them in the influx of new questions. She knew Hitsugaya and Hisagi both had one, in the same spot on their right wrists. She also knew that these tattoos we're in the exact same style of script as Momo's tattoo on her right middle finger. She had never seen whether or not Ichigo had a tattoo, but now that she thought about it, he was always wearing a wristwatch or a bracelet of some kind on his right wrist, even during swim practice. She hadn't been able to see anything on Ichigo's newest sister, because Yoo Hee had been wearing long sleeves and gloves. Rukia realized she had never even bothered to check and see if Rangiku or Ishida had a tattoo.

"Aagh! I am going to have one of the worst headaches ever! Maybe it will be better to think this all out in the morning. I'll try and get some answers from Ichigo tomorrow, even if I have to beat them out of him," she muttered to herself as she went and collapsed in her bed, not even bothering to change into her sleeping clothes. She kicked her shoes off and pulled the covers up to her chin. She had heard that a good night's sleep could do wonders.

잤냐구?

So much for a good night's sleep. Try as she might, Rukia couldn't calm her buzzing mind. She sat up in bed letting out a frustrated groan. The more she tossed and turned about, the more her dislike for the man down the hallway grew and the more violent her feelings towards him became. She contemplated going down the hallway and wringing the neck of the blond that had unknowingly caused her the worst confusion in her life. She stumbled to her door, opening it cautiously and looking down the hallway, towards the room Ichigo was in. The door was shut and no light shone from its direction.

No better to wait, she would try and organize her thoughts before she talked to/attacked Ichigo tomorrow.

Rukia quietly crept to the kitchen, finally turning on a light after she managed to crash into three different chairs.

"I wish Nemu was going to be here tomorrow," she sighed opening the fridge, "I'm going to have to live off leftovers for the rest of the week until she gets back."

"I take it you don't know how to cook."

Rukia spun around at the sound of the voice. Ichigo stood yawning as he leaned against the doorframe. The button down shirt he had been wearing earlier was now open leaving Rukia with a view of his wonderfully flat stomach. The jeans he still wore hung very low on his waist as he yawned once more, not noticing Rukia's gaze.

"Do you need help," he strode over to peer in the fridge with her "Want me to cook something for you?"

Rukia gulped, as she smelled his light cinnamon scent. She turned away to hide her blush.

"Rukia?" he looked to her for an answer.

'Why can't I make coherent thoughts? It's like I haven't seen him in less during swim team.'

"I can too cook, you jerk," she finally managed to find her voice. "And somehow I doubt that you cook edible food."

"Just shush up, I bet I'm still a better cook than you, it's nothing too fancy, usually Ishida cooks at home but I know a few tricks," he started to pull vegetables out of the fridge.

"I'm fine with instant noodles," Rukia looked away from him.

"I'm offering to cook for you, just accept," he dumped his supplies onto the middle island.

"Fine you fool, just don't burn down my house," Rukia shut the fridge door. "Umm do you need any help?"

"You want to help cut the vegetables," he held up a carrot to her. Rukia stood going over to a drawer and pulling out two knifes before returning and handing one to him. "Can I trust you with that," Ichigo said in a mock serious tone.

"Shut up idiot, at least I know what part of the knife to grip," Rukia grabbed the carrot and rather viciously chopped off the top.

"Touché," Ichigo grinned. "You know this is the first time I think I've ever cooked for someone at three in the morning."

"What!? It's three in the freaking morning?!" Rukia missed the carrot and cut her finger.

사고

Needless to say Ichigo didn't let Rukia help him with the rest of the food preparation.

"You just came down here without knowing what time it was," Ichigo called to her from the kitchen.

"I didn't know, I just couldn't sleep so I came downstairs to get something to eat," Rukia grumbled. She cautiously pulled back the napkin from her finger to check and see if the bleeding had stopped.

"You're such a hazard," Ichigo sighed as he sat down opposite Rukia.

"I didn't think it would bleed that much," Rukia moaned as she tried to apply her band-aid with one hand. Ichigo took pity on her and reached over taking the band-aid from her and pulling her injured hand into his own.

"Just be careful," he ran a cleansing cloth over her finger and wrapped the bandage around it. He gently brought her hand up and pressed his lips to the tip of her injured finger. "All better."

부작용

"Eat," he placed a plate of food in front of Rukia and sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the table.

"Thank you," Rukia mumbled as he started into his own plate of stir-fry.

"No problem, it's not the best but it sure as hell beats instant noodles," he paused, looking up to examine her. "I'm surprised at your patience."

"It didn't take you that long to cook."

"No, no, what I mean, is in your lack of questioning."

Her violet eyes sought his brown ones, "I trust in your promise to answer me tomorrow."

A moment of hesitation, then a look of determination overtook his eyes. He put down his plate and removed his wristwatch. Holding up his right wrist, underside of his arm facing Rukia, he quietly uttered, "Do you know what this is?"

_Ira_

"A tattoo?" Rukia leaned in closer, "In the same script as Hitsugaya's and Hisagi's."

"Yes."

"_Ira_," she looked up, meeting his eyes again, "Wrath."

He nodded, lowering his arm. "How did you know?"

"Momo's tattoo. I did some research on it an came across something…"

"What did you find?"

"Humility."

"And?"

"The seven virtues and …"

"Yes?"

"Seven sins."

He leaned back, ruffling his hair. "Six other members of my family have tattoos on their wrists, similar to mine. Each with a different Latin word. Do you have any idea what those words might be?"

"I-I know that Hitsugaya has _Superbia_, for pride and Hisagi has _Avaratia_, or greed," Rukia paused, biting her lip. "I'm guessing the rest of your family has the other four, the four other sins."

"Yes," he murmured. "Rangiku is _Gula_, or gluttony. Kenzaki is sloth (_Socordia_), Yoshino has _Luxuria_, lust and my oldest brother is in charge of envy, _Invidia_. All the sins have their Latin sin tattooed on their right wrist, they are all in the same place."

"But Momo has a virtue and what of Ishida?" Rukia's attention was fully focused on Ichigo.

"What do you know of the virtues?"

"There are seven of them, one virtue for each vice."

"Yes a virtue for every Sin," he looked down at his tattoo. "Humility with Pride, Charity with Greed, Temperance with Gluttony, Diligence with Sloth, Chastity with Lust, Kindness with Envy and with Wrath, Patience."

"So since you already listed seven people representing the seven sins, Ishida must be a virtue right?"

"Yes, I bet you can guess whose virtue he is."

"Well if Ishida is with Yoshino and Yoshino is the Lust Sin, then Ishida must be the Chastity Virtue. And from her tattoo, Momo is the Humility Virtue"

"Right, but unlike the Sins not all the Virtues are present right now," he looked at her with a longing look. "I do not have a Virtue right now, as well as my oldest brother and Shuuhei. Yoo Hee is the Diligence Virtue and the Temperance Virtue stayed in the U.S. The Virtues all have their tattoos running along the side of their middle finger, of their right hand. It's always on the side that presses against the ring finger."

Rukia bit her lip, "Why don't you have a Virtue right now?"

"My Virtue hasn't shown herself yet," he reached his hand out, as if to clasp Rukia's that laid on the table, but he stopped pulling back his hand.

"Shown herself? How do you find them?"

He surprised her by letting out a small chuckle. "Remember our first meeting in your kitchen?"

"Yes." Rukia nodded, her eyes automatically darting to his hand.

"Do you remember the questions I asked you?"

"Um, yes somewhat, but I was distracted by an idiot that had grabbed the sharp end of a knife."

"I'm not the _idiot_ that had grabbed the knife and tried to stab my guest with it."

"But your the _idiot_ that reached out and grabbed the knife by the blade."

"Yes but I'm still not the puny, tiny little _idiot_ that thought I even stood a chance of attacking someone with a kitchen knife," he motioned to her small and petite stature.

"Well I'm not the big, blond headed _idiot_ that goes around looking like a doofus all the time and scares away people with my ugly mug!"

"Um.... does that have anything to do with proper knife usage?"

"Yes, I mean maybe, I mean ... just shut up and continue with whatever you were saying before you decided to be an idiot," huffed Rukia.

Ichigo scratched his head, "I forgot."

"Told you, you're an idiot. But it was something about the questions you asked me."

"Oh right, well when the Virtue goes through his or her first life threatening experience the Epistle is able to sense them. Usually within a week after the attack the tattoo will appear. This has always happened before the Virtue turns twenty one but never before the age of sixteen."

"So Momo's attack signaled the Epistle?"

"Yes, but after the initial signal, we have no way of knowing anything else about the Virtue's location. When we came here all that we knew was that the next Virtue resided somewhere in Karakura."

"How did you find Momo?"

"We were able to get a hold of some police files," he awkwardly cleared his throat, "and Momo was the only one that had filed an attack around the same time as when the epistle received the signal."

"But what if you had been wrong?"

"There's a special connection between the Sin and the matching Virtue. Toshiro knew Momo was his Virtue the moment he saw her but we also questioned you to reassure our assumptions."

"But still, what if Momo was the wrong person?"

"Then you probably would've been even more freaked out and most likely would have actually stabbed me with the knife," He held up his hands in an 'oh well' manner. "Not that it really would've mattered."

Right, he couldn't be injured. "Ichigo," Rukia wrapped her hands around each other. "I've been thinking, you aren't human, you can't be hurt and you make it sound as if you're older than you appear. But then what are you?"

"We've never really had a good answer for that actually. No name for what my family and I are," he shrugged unconcerned. "The best answer we have is we're immortals."

"Immortal?"

"Remember the civil war I told you about?"

"Yes, the one that caused your family to move."

"That was the Boshin Civil war."

"Boshin?"

"Yes," he closed his eyes. "It was fought in 1477, in Japan."

1477? 1477?!?! "That's over five hundred years ago!" Rukia had known he was older than her but she didn't think he was THAT old.

"Hmm thanks for reminding me, but it's not as if I told you I was young or anything," he scowled as Rukia tried to lessen the look of shock on her face.

"But that just can't be possible," Rukia sputtered. "You look like a high schooler."

"I am, this is that same appearance I had when I had just turned eighteen all those years ago."

"But how?"

"Time stopped for me."

"But it's just so long ago and old, and back in the day, and old, and Japan, and old, and you, so old."

"Not helping with the old thing Rukia," he sighed, running his hand through his golden locks.

"But how did you get from Japan to the mainland and Italy?"

"We went aboard a ship, don't worry we at least had those back then."

"But how, from Eastern China to Italy I mean, way back when, with no planes, or trains or ..." she blushed as she realized how jumbled her sentences were becoming.

"Automobiles?" Ichigo said with a small smile finishing her sentence for her. "My family left Japan when I was fourteen and it actually took us around three years to wander around and eventually end up in Italy. My father had ... erm connections and we would stay for awhile in one place, then move on until we decided to stop somewhere else. We only ended up in Italy because my mother was tired of traveling."

"Connections huh? Even at a young age you were involved in shady business."

"First off it was my father, secondly, young? I was seventeen when we made it to Italy. That's almost the same age that you are now, even if you do look like you're twelve."

"But that's _young_ for you, old man. Compared to me you're a great, great, great, great, great, great, great times infinity grandpa!"

Ichigo scoffed, "I'm technically eighteen still because that's when time stopped for me."

"Kinda like Edward Cullen," Rukia let it slip, she blushed.

Ichigo's scowl lessened and he leaned to look closer at her. "Did you just compare me to that character from _Twilight_?"

"Pshh, n-no, "Rukia attempted to save herself before he started teasing her.

"Rukia are you a rabid _Twilight_, Edward loving fan?"

"N-n-no, I just read the books that's all!"

He smiled at her, staring at the red tinge on her cheeks, "Well-"

"Ah I don't want to hear your smart remarks!" Rukia held up her hand to cut him off.

"I'm hurt you'd think that," his grin widened, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm not a vampire, I cleaned up your blood and you don't have any bite marks, only the mark of an idiot that doesn't know how to use a knife, so I guess you'll have to keep searching for a theory."

... "Tuck Everlasting?"

"I guess that's closer, but I didn't drink from a magic spring to get this way."

"How?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you get that way? How did you become a Sin?"

His eyebrows knitted together again, "I think we should save that question for another time. Let's go and try and get a little shut-eye before school. He reached over taking her plate to go and dump it in the sink.

Rukia realized she was too tired to argue, she stood, going to stand at the base of the stairs, "I'll hold you to it then Ichigo, good night."

Ichigo watched her go, and leaned against the counter, his scowl in place again and his mouth forming a thin line, "I wished you hadn't asked that Rukia."

원치 않는 질문

* * *

_Yay done :)_

_So I know this is only a small portion of answers of all the possible questions that there probably is, but don't worry the next chapters are full of answers. Topics still to come:  
- The sword, how it's formed and what it does  
- The demons, what they do, how and why  
- Methods of cleansing demons  
- Virtues role to Sin  
- Who's who (which sin/virtue = which person)  
- Epistle  
- Sweepers  
- Urahara  
- Some more background info on Ichigo's family  
- Virtues - Immortal or not?  
And that's all I can remember off the top of my head. If there's a question you have not listed feel free to ask :) I'll have to decide yay or nay in answering because it may actually turn up in a later chapter._

_Right now I'm currently fighting my way through all the questions (literally, I have a "battle scar"/bump on my head from hitting myself with my notebook in frustration) and I will try my best to get these next few chapters worked out. I'm trying to write most of the chapters filled with all the answers together, at the same time, so I don't have to go back and try and answer a question that should've been answered in a previous chapter._

_Sorry for any curiosity/confusion/frustration/any other unpleasant emotion this story elicits._

_-Tres_


	9. Where Solid Sensibility is Foolish

_Chapter uh um what is this 9? Yes chapter 9!!!! Still hashing my way through the information but this chapter also contains a mouthful of info, hope it isn't an overload :( I feel like I need to be feeding this stuff slowly but when i read it i feel like I just took a brick and jammed it down someone's throat._

_Nekura Enzeru - Much thanks for the morale boosting review. But Aizen won't be popping in the story until the next chapter (but yes he is going to be a good guy, he actually won't have a very big role.) And since he's not the bad guy, the real antagonist will be mentioned some time soon also._

_NinjaBunnyOverlord - I really wish I could spill the beans ... but I won't, a little anticipation spices up life right? Thanks for the review :)_

_Hatake Tsughi - Good good, I was wondering whether it would be considered too Un-Rukia like for her to try and get away from Ichigo's family and I'm glad that it seemed logical (that's what I would do too), of course thank you for the review too!_

_Sim-Chan - Yeah I noticed I do use the kitchen a lot ... even though I'm a disaster in the kitchen (even when it comes to opening cans or making rice). I felt really really bad about saying that Rukia wasn't Ichigo's virtue at the moment but yes the possibility is still there for Ichigo and Rukia to be the Wrath/Patience pair :) Thanks for the review._

_Anna Haruno - A story in English? Sounds fun (and if you need any help feel free to ask) but your English is really good (way super better than my Spanish) and I still read some of your stories in Spanish (but it takes a good part of the day for me to do so). The lifespan of the virtue is in the next chapter and the awakening/choosing of the Sins will be some of the very last information to be revealed (secretive!) and thank you for the very in depth review (they always give me lots to think about)._

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - This sounds evil but why Ichigo didn't want her to ask ... it's a secret for awhile, but it has a bit to do with Ichigo's character and the circumstances under which he was chosen to be Wrath. Your review definitely cheered me up, and you are much to kind, glad that you enjoy the story :)_

_None93 - I so so so wish I could tell you what I have in mind ... but don't worry everything will work out in the end, after all I'm a happy ending kind of __person, thanks for the review :)_

_Ichi-Ruki4Eva - Hee Hee your username is cute :) but I'm am so happy you like my story (all starry eyed and such) but I'm sorry sorry sorry that it's confusing. I have that problem when I write, it makes sense to me because I'm the author and I reread it later and then see the big gaping holes. Don't want to spill any of the future part of the story so I'm going to leave the rest of your review "open for thought" so to speak. Thanks for the review, and if confused feel free to ask questions!_

_Random Song: Send Away - F.T. Island (In korean)_

**Disclaimer:** I do not in anyway own Bleach, the characters and ... don't own F.T. Island or their song.

* * *

사실과 허구

"Whyyyyy," Rukia groaned in her sleep, reaching out to grope around on the bedside table for her cellphone. "Who is calling me already?"

She read the screen with bleary eyes, an unknown number, but she was sure she had seen this number from somewhere before but just couldn't place it at the moment.

"Hello?"

"Hey, what are you doing up there? School starts in half an hour."

"Ichigo? How did you get my number," Rukia, now full awake glances at her clock, "Crap."

"I take it you've finally decided to start using the modern technology, called a clock to see what time it is," comes the unneeded commentary through the phone.

"Shut up."

"Good morning to you too."

안녕하세요

"Hey Ichigo."

"Hey what?" Ichigo started the car.

When Rukia had entered her kitchen (sigh, yes the kitchen) that morning Ichigo had been sitting at the table with breakfast waiting on the table for her and was somehow already clad in his school uniform. 'So that's what was in his bag.'

A hurried breakfast, full of French toast and insults had ensued and Rukia hurried him out the door, going to beat on the button for the elevator while glaring at her watch.

Ichigo shifted the car into drive. "How come your family has so many cars?" Rukia's hands automatically clamped around the seat as the car took off.

"Well, almost all of my family is what you could consider stubborn asses and everyone prefers to drive. So, to prevent fights over driver we just got our own cars."

Rukia chuckled, "That isn't quite what I meant, my question was more along the lines of how can you afford them all?"

"How old did you say I was roughly?"

"Over five hundred years, why?"

"Do you think I've just been twiddling my thumbs, sitting around doing nothing for the last hundreds of years?"

"No …"

"I've had quite the assortment of jobs and plus it doesn't hurt that the family also set aside one big pool of money that almost anyone is allowed to draw from."

"Jobs?" Rukia quirked her eyebrow, "Do you just wake up one day and decide you want to be a lawyer or teacher or whatever you feel like doing?"

"Heh not quite. It's not that easy. I have to undergo all the training or schooling that goes with the job first."

"So you've been through college before?"

"Yes, multiple times, all for different majors." Ichigo parked the car in the school lot, reaching over to unbuckle Rukia's seatbelt.

"Thanks," she mumbled blushing.

Rukia stepped out of the car with shaky legs and started to walk towards the building. She cleared her throat, as her blush began to fade from her cheeks, "So what have you done?"

"Hmm, I've been a biologist, a lawyer, a pilot, a surgeon and a few more I can't remember. That's not including the odd end jobs I do occasionally that fit the college kid profile."

Some of the students stared at them as the pair winded their way through the students dawdling in the hallways.A few haughty girls glared at Rukia, the jealously clear on their faces, as they put their heads together to "nicely and politely" discuss this new development.

'Crap, coming to school together with Ichigo could cause some pretty ugly consequences,' but as long as she didn't lose her cool like she did with Orihime everything should be fine ... hopefully.

"Sounds like all your jobs involve one thing," she speculated aloud.

"Yes, and what would that be?"

"They all involve making lots of money," Rukia narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure you're not meant to be Greed?"

He had a rather comical look of being dumbstruck on his face, before he let out a small chuckle, "No I can assure you that Greed is much worse than I. I went through all the schooling for my job, Shuuhei, well let's just say if he ever offers to perform a surgery for you or defend you in court, you should flat out refuse."

Groups of girls in the hallway swooned at Ichigo's smile, and Rukia could've sworn that Aphrodite was cursing the blond haired boy for his ability to make feelings of love broil in women as easily as she could in men.

He reached out, sliding the door open for Rukia, "After you little one."

"You've never been an actor or a model," Rukia felt the glaring daggers, as he held the door open for her.

"Nah, we can't do anything like that," he followed behind her. "We can't draw attention to ourselves and need to stay inconspicuous. We all also have to switch our profession quite often, usually when we move."

Rukia sat down in her desk, Ichigo sitting down in front of her and turning around in his seat, his elbow resting on her desk. The rest of his family didn't appear to be there yet. "Does your family always move and live together?"

"Usually? No, the only people that insist on going somewhere together is a Sin and the his or her partner, otherwise we'll keep to smaller groups. We draw less attention that way."

"But isn't most of your family here now?" Rukia lowered her voice as more students entered the class.

"Yes, strangely enough. Shuuhei, Toshiro, my eldest brother and I all came here because we are all missing our Virtue," he reached up and ruffled his hair as he thought. "Let's see, Kenzaki and Yoo Hee were over in Korea and just decided to tag along and Rangiku likes to watch when Toshiro is flustered so she came as his "moral support" or something along those lines."

"And your parents?"

"Che, my _parents_," Ichigo said the word as if it were foreign and he had not used in a long while. "Well, they travel wherever they please, usually mother doesn't travel with father, but you're always hard pressed to find either one of them."

Rukia glanced up, examining the odd expression his face carried as he spoke of his mom and dad. "Are your parents immortal too?"

He nodded, "As far as I know. Mother always looks the same and I've never seen father face to face."

"You've never seen the man that adopted you?" Rukia was shocked that in five hundred years, Ichigo did not know the face of his dad.

"I haven't seen him nor have I ever talked to him directly. It's always either over the phone or by word of mouth from mother."

"Odd I guess," she paused, "that sounds, horrible actually."

"It's not really one thing or another," he shrugged. "I do as he says and he gives me free reign over my lifestyle, well almost free reign. He still has to make sure our family maintains secrecy and the Sins perform their duties."

Rukia picked at the hem of her skirt. "Ichigo about my question from last night, why-"

Ichigo stood as Hitsugaya and Matsumoto entered the classroom, Momo following shortly afterwards. "You stay here," he said in a low voice.

As Ichigo walked up, Hitsugaya tensed and casually stepped in front of Momo. Matsumoto crossed her arms and sighed.

What ever they were saying, Rukia couldn't hear because there voices were so low. Gradually the rest of the class became aware of the tension that seemed to be emitting from the direction of the two brothers.

Hitsugaya held up his hand, stopping further talk as he noticed the numerous pairs of eyes that were now staring in his direction. He patted Ichigo on his arm and strode over to his desk. He merely nodded to Rukia as he sat down. Momo followed, flashing Rukia a small smile before turning her attention the boy in front of her.

Rukia saw Matsumoto quickly hug Ichigo before she flounced over to her seat and Ichigo strode back to his.

"I hope you don't mind that you'll be spending some time with us later, after school," he whispered to her. He tilted his head in Hitsugaya's direction. "It's a special request after all."

Rukia shook her head, "I don't mind, swim team is over but-"

"Oi Kurosaki," Hitsugaya smirked, "I forgot to tell you that Kenzaki wanted me to deliver a message. It was something along the lines of, he was going to kill you and use your car to haul your dead body and his his dirty laundry around, then drive it off the first big cliff he could find."

특별 요청

The lunch bell signaled the usual rush of students into their classroom. Rukia barely managed to edge her way out, avoiding the girls that had just arrived, a cloud of perfume in their wake.

Ichigo had been stopped by the arrival of a rather angry looking Kenzaki and had stayed behind, trapped in the classroom now.

Hisagi was absent from school, and Rukia worried as she thought about the last time she had seen him.

She pulled out her cell phone, calling home to leave a message that she might be out late tonight.

"Ruuukia!" someone jumped on her back almost knocking her over.

"Senna," Rukia leaned against the wall for support. "You're too heavy for me to give piggy back rides to."

"Fine spoil sport," Senna sighed jumping off Rukia's back. "You're not eating lunch in your room?"

"It's worse than the after day holiday sales in there, it's a life risking venture I'm not willing to undertake again."

"Oooh but that's the only place during school where you can see all of them together," Senna lead the way outside into the courtyard. "And it's still a bit to cold to eat out here."

"I'd rather eat here than be suffocated in that room. You can go back and eat in there if you want. I think Momo is still in there somewhere" Rukia seated herself on a low stonewall, fencing off part of the lawn. Senna sighed but sat down next to Rukia.

"Hey Rukia," Senna pulled her chopsticks from her lunch, chewing on the ends in thought. "Have you noticed that Momo is acting differently now?"

You don't know the half of it. "Yes, she has been acting weird lately," Rukia nodded.

"I wonder why though, I bet it's because of Hitsugaya but I'm still jealous of her."

"Because she's dating Hitsugaya?"

"Yes that, but mostly because she probably gets to spend way more time with Ichigo now than I do."

Good thing Senna didn't know who her slumber party guest was last night. "I see …"

"Rukia," Senna's voice was more serious than usual, "Is there anything going on between you and Ichigo?"

Rukia spit out the rice she had been attempting to chew, "N-n-no of course not, he is, I mean, was a fellow swimmer." She dabbed at her face with a napkin.

"But I heard you've been spending time with him outside of school and that he gave you a ride to school today," Senna insisted.

"Ah ha ha, he just saw me on the way to school ya know and offered to give me a ride and said it was because I'm Momo's friend and she's dating his brother and sometimes I saw him outside of school, but it was never planned we just bumped into each other and people must have mistaken it for us purposely meeting you know?" Rukia blurted out rather quickly.

Senna gave her a scrutinizing look, which quickly changed to a look of glee, "Okay, I just wanted to know. I mean who wouldn't want to know about him, he's so enticing!"

Senna + boy she's finds "enticing/intriguing/interesting/sexy/what ever word she's picked for the day" = usually only one thing

"Senna, do you, well, do you like Ichigo?"

"Yes," Senna gleamed, clasping her hands together, "He seems so perfect and I just wanted to make sure it was okay with you before I confessed to him."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Just those rumors you know, didn't want us competing."

"Oh," Rukia wasn't sure how Ichigo would react to Senna's confession. She bit her lip, what if he returned her feelings?

고백

As soon as school ended, Ichigo grabbed Rukia's hand, tugging her from the classroom and took both of their school bags, slinging them over one shoulder

"Hey Ruk-" Senna pushed her way through the crowd of students, pausing as she saw Ichigo by Rukia's side.

"Sorry Senna," Rukia waved and continued being dragged through the school by Ichigo. Senna was not going to believe the "he's just my fellow swimmer" line now.

"Oi Ichigo," Rukia tugged on her hand held tight in his grasp. "Earth to Idiot!"

He shot her a glare, "What."

"What's with the extreme hurry?"

"I don't want the rest of my family to start something out in the open like this," he pulled her after him, into the parking lot, towards his black Lexus. "Let's go," he said opening the passenger side door.

"How …"

"Kenzaki probably found the spare key and drove it because I took his car," he shut the door after she had gotten in.

"What about his car," Rukia asked as he got in.

Ichigo shrugged, unconcerned, "He should have a key."

"You're so caring but what were you saying about your family causing something?"

"I just don't want a bunch of people listening in on our conversation and I wouldn't put it past Kenryuu to just start idiotically bellowing out our secrets because he wants to vent some of his anger at me."

The car raced out of the school parking lot, as Rukia saw a still rather angry looking Kenzaki emerge from the school.

She faced forward again, "But don't people find out? Like all those people at the bank saw what Hisagi did."

"It's best to avoid spilling our private information but if that occurs the sweepers will take care of it."

"The sweepers?" Rukia placed her pointer finger on her chin. "Hisagi mentioned them before too,"

"The sweepers are the main reason we haven't been discovered yet," Ichigo said.

"What are the sweepers?"

"The sweepers have the ability to modify someone's memory."

"Memory modification?" Rukia voiced her confusion.

"Yes the sweepers can replace the memories of anyone that witnesses a cleansing, it's an ability given to them by the Epistle. We can't modify memories so it's important to have a sweeper nearby wherever we are,"

"Who is this Epistle?"

He was silent "I wish I knew."

"Have you ever seen the Epistle?"

"No, remember my father?"

"Yes," Rukia said recalling their conversation from earlier that morning.

"The Epistle and my father are one in the same."

"Your father is the Epistle?!"

"Yes the same exact person, I have never seen, or even directly spoken to my father, and likewise have never spoken to nor seen the Epistle."

"Has anybody seen your father, I mean the Epistle, I mean, uh you know what I mean," Rukia said in exasperation.

"I believe Toshiro and my eldest brother have, as well as mother. There are also a handful of sweepers, that are under direct orders of the Epistle, that have also seen his face."

As Ichigo spoke, Rukia noticed the tiny glints of fear that crossed his eyes as he spoke of the father figure of his adoptive family. "What does the Epistle do, what is he?"

"I have no idea what he is, but he is able to sense the Sins and Virtues. He can modify memories and pass on the power to others without having to meet them face-to-face. He is able to perceive something in people that determines whether or not they are suitable to be a Sin or a sweeper and such. I don't know how he does it,"

Rukia didn't like the sound of this man. She pictured an evil, old man (complete with a long, winding beard) that sat alone in the dark, talking to a crystal ball or magic mirror. "Why is he so important to the Sins then?"

"We cannot disobey him, just like we cannot be with anyone other than our predestined Virtue. The Epistle holds our lives in his hands. We cannot resist him any matter or in any way. To do so would strip us of our freedom."

"The same with the sweepers?"

"Yes it is similar, but the Epistle is not so concerned with them. He can merely dispose of them if one becomes too much trouble.

"He sounds like an evil man."

"He does what he must. Other than telling us when a Virtue has appeared or a Sin has passed, he lets the Sins and Virtues do as they please. His interference in our lives is minimal as long as we perform our duties."

"So, he doesn't travel with you."

"No, and I never know my father's exact location." Ichigo pulled the car into parking spot outside of a five-story condominium.

He got out, walking around to open Rukia's door, "Where are we," she stepped out and he shut the car door behind Rukia.

He led her up the pathway, to what she assumed was the entrance. "One of my family's places. It actually belongs to Toshiro."

"Hitsugaya?"

"Yeah he prefers his own place, so the rest of us live in that house you saw yesterday."

"Does he live alone?"

"Sometimes Momo is over here and if a sweeper needs somewhere to stay, they stay here."

He stopped as the grey door he was reaching for swung open and a very tall man stumbled out.

The man stopped dead in his tracks spotting Ichigo and Rukia, his hands tensed and he slowly shut the door behind him. Rukia saw one of his eyes hastily dart back and forth, looking for a way out. His other eye was covered by a black eye patch and around his head was a giant white hood, giving him the resemblance of a mascot for a plastic utensils company.

"Who are you? What were you doing in there?" Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

The tall man inclined his head to Ichigo, "Are you a friend of the young master? I'm just a housekeeper, I was merely doing my weekly tidying up of the place."

Ichigo pushed Rukia behind him, "I see, should I call Hitsugaya to confirm that?"

"Call if you will, but for now I will be taking my leave, for I assure you that I am not here without probably cause," the man's lean frame shook as he let out an eerie hollow chuckle.

Ichigo stood his ground, and met the eyes of the creepy man, "Very well, but I will be contacting Hitsugaya on this matter."

The man did a mock salute and edged past Ichigo.

"I hope you kids have fun now, especially that small little thing behind you, take special care of her."

"Stop," Ichigo's voice was hard, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, the poor girl just looks exhausted."

"She is none of your concern."

"Very well, _sir_."

Ichigo met his sickening sneer with a hard look, "This is your one and only warning, I never want to hear that she had the unpleasant experience of meeting with you again, no matter how accidental it may be," Ichigo's back was to Rukia, and despite herself she felt her mind begin to panic, never before had she heard such malice in a person's voice.

"What if it's a coincidence?" the man seemed to be getting some sick sort of pleasure from taunting Ichigo.

"I don't believe in coincidences."

"Fine fine, I'll be careful."

"Wait," Ichigo took a step towards the man, staring at the his face, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

The thin man's grin sickened her stomach as he licked his lips with an unusually long tongue, "No, no we do not run in the same circles, you and I."

Ichigo stared at him for a second longer, before he motioned with his hand, dismissing the man.

The man slinked his way out of sight before Ichigo moved again. He looked around cautiously before he went to the side door and punched a code into the lock. A beep was heard and Ichigo quickly opened the door and pulled Rukia in after him.

"Wait here," his voice was dead serious as he released Rukia's hand and disappeared deeper into the condo.

Rukia bit her lip, nervous as she stood in the white hallway alone.

That man, despite her dislike, had struck a cord of familiarity somewhere within her memory. How was he involved with her? Rukia had a feeling the answer could only be found in an unpleasant memory.

Ichigo reappeared, shoving his cell phone into his pocket as he cupped Rukia's face in his large hands.

"Rukia," he whispered. She gulped, were his eyes always that heavy set with worry?

"Have you met that man before?"

A yes answer, Ichigo would most likely freak out, he'd probably demand that the man be hunted down and beat a confession out of him. Then he would most likely blame himself and have a sweeper come to erase Rukia's memory, he had already hinted that it was pushing it by allowing her to know so much about his family.

"No," she would figure out her connection to that man on her own.

Ichigo let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Sorry, I hope he didn't scare you."

Rukia blushed at the sincerity in his words, "Sh-shut up idiot how old do you think I am," she said due to the loss of coherent thinking to form a more appropriate response. "Who would be afraid of a life size plastic spoon?"

Actually she would, due to this particual life size plastic spoon, being freakishly proportioned and looking as if he had mugged a pirate.

"I was just making sure you're okay," he released her face and reclaimed her hand. He made his way down the hall to a large room, with Rukia in tow.

"Did you actually call Hitsugaya?"

"Yeah," he said flicking on the light to a large, sparsely furnished living room. "He said his housekeeper usually comes on the weekend but it's possible he came today."

"Oh," she bit her lip, so his reason for being there may have actually been plausible, but something in his demeanor still made Rukia nervous.

"Don't sound so worried, I'm going to have the sweepers look into the man anyway. There should be shots of him on the security footage from around the condo," Ichigo said as seated himself on the only couch in the room and Rukia hesitantly sat down next to him.

"I was not worried."

"Sure."

"Shut up."

Ichigo scratched his chin, "Are you sure you didn't recognize him from somewhere?"

"Y-yep never seen that spoony head anywhere before," Rukia answered just a bit too quickly.

Ichigo was so lost in thought that he didn't notice, "I don't remember whether or not I've seen him before, I mean a freak like that, you'd think I'd remember meeting."

"Well, you aren't the brightest star in the sky ..."

"Yeah, ... wait, what did you just say?"

"Nothing, noting."

He glared at her for a second, before returning to his thoughts. "I'll have to discuss this with Envy later, but for now I have to worry about you."

"Am I really such a bother?"

"No, in fact you're not nearly as bad as Rangiku and Shuuhei when they're three ways past drunk. It gets even worse when they get Grimmjow involved, mass destruction and extra work and," he muttered on, running a hand over his face.

"Grimmjow?" Rukia didn't want his mind on the spoon man anymore, until she figured out her own connection to him. If her connection with that man was a dangerous one, she didn't want Ichigo involved. Immortal or not, it would pain her to see him get hurt.

"Grimmjow is a sweeper."

"Do sweepers travel with you?"

"Nah, there's hundreds of sweepers, stationed all over the world."

"They don't have to move around like you?"

"They can if they want but many of them prefer to stay put. There's only about a dozen or so that travel and that we can take with us if we'd like. The two you saw yesterday, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra do this," Ichigo leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Are they kinda like you, immortal I mean?" Rukia jumped as Ichigo reached over and pulled her closer to him.

"Only while under contract," he said as he tucked her under his arm. "They form a deal with the Epistle to serve for so many years. During their years of service they do not age. Once the term is over, they can renew another term or return to "normal life" at which point they resume aging again and eventually pass on."

"How long is a term?" Rukia blushed and tried to inconspicuously turn her nose closer to his side, as she took in his wonderful scent.

"Seven years," Ichigo rolled his eyes, as if the number was too much of a cliché for his taste.

"They can't end before the seven years are up?"

"No, they are under contract until released, if they start to act up, the Epistle has ways of dealing with them. Sweepers don't just modify memories, their other job is to cut the lose ends, so to speak."

"You mean ... kill?" Rukia whispered, her voice muffled.

"Yes."

"But how is it that they don't leak information once they are freed from the agreement then?"

"They have their memories modified before they return to the normal flow of life."

"Do many choose to return?"

"You'd be surprised, almost all our past sweepers have chosen to return to mortality. To live forever doesn't sound so glorious after you haven't aged for so many years," he sighed, running his left hand over his tattoo.

"What about you," Rukia said looking up, as she searched his eyes. "Can you ever return to a normal life?"

"Probably not. Our contracts are life contracts, which for us is forever and there are only two ways to be freed from our agreements. One is to gain the acceptance of the Epistle to terminate the contract, which pardons us from the duties as a Sin."

"Has this ever happened?"

"Yes, but it happened before I became a Sin. I don't know how, or what words he spoke but the previous Greed, was freed from his contract many years ago and was eventually replaced by Shuuhei. He's the only one that has ever been freed."

"You said there was a second method to freedom though."

Ichigo's eyebrows pulled together into a scowl. "The other method only provides freedom from the contract but not freedom to life."

"I do not understand."

"The other way out of deal is through death."

"But," Rukia's eyes widened, "I thought you couldn't die."

"We can, but there's only one way to do it and it's rather hard. We can only die if we are killed by another," Ichigo frowned.

"Is there a certain other?"

"The only person who is able to slay a Sin is our own Virtue."

미덕

* * *

_I've also spun out a little something something story/thingy. It's short but not part the series (But is IxR)._

_Goooood? I hope, it wasn't too non-stop wordy information and that everything made sense._

_Still to come:_

_... the rest of the stuff that was on the list in the last chapter that I didn't cover in this chapter (I'm too lazy to type it all out)_

_Thanks much_

_From the lazy bum,  
- Tres_


	10. Why They Kept Secrets

_Hmm chapter ten, what to say what to say..._

_I hate hot weather right now. (My computer is making noises likes it's going to spontaneously combust)_

_Anyone read Angels and Demons yet? It's good but disturbing, it's disturbingly good (But Tom Hanks so does not fit the character)_

_Bleach forums . . . yeah right_

_... Nothing good to say on that topic._

_Next subject_

_I've actually been working on another little blurby thing called "**Ardor**" that I really like but it's a bit different from this story because it's a little out of character for Ichigo. But no worries, this story (Of Sins and Virtues) is my first priority!_

_Now:_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Lol a giggling fan girl huh? But don't worry the whole "can Ichigo die?" thing is totally talked about in this chapter and there is some more information on the Sins and Virtues also. If you do have any specific questions that I still need to answer feel free to ask :) Thanks for the review!_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord__ - Nnoitra (a.k.a. spoony head) will definitely be causing some waves of sorts in the story and thanks for the review too!_

_Camilla. Shinigami - (for some reason this thing won't let me enter your pen name without a space ...) Lovely review and I'm glad you thought the info had a nice flow to it and the outcome will be happy because sad endings just aren't my style :) Actually I wasn't going to include Senna's confession in the story but rather just use it as something else later on in the story, but now that I think about it, it would only make sense to include it, so it shall be done! (eventually, I'm none too fantastical at writing confessions) but thanks again for the review :)_

_Sim-Chan - Hmmhmmhmm yeah I forgot about Rukia's whole thoughts on Ichigo taking care of her so much but I will try and put something into the story about it. There actually is a scene later on that talks about it, but it's so much Rukia's own views on his caring as it is others (sorry for crappy explanation) Aah so much to think about (but it's a good thing, no?) Thank you much for the review :)_

_Nekura Enzeru - I don't know how I am at writing the more violent scenes (definitely not on par with you) and the Nnoitra/Rukia connection, aaah nooooo I can't tell you yet, unless you reeeeally want to know. But thanks for the review of course, and I'm glad that the punctuation/grammar was okay because I'm the only one that proofread this chapter (my 'editors' so to speak are rather scarce at the moment.)_

_xikauai - Absolutely no problems blurting out stuff from your head, because it gives me a lot to consider and it's also nice to know what some other questions might be that I need to answer. And yes a lot of stuff you asked about is coming up action in the story,. A second view/opinion is always good and much appreciated! Thanks for the review :)_

_Anna Haruno - Gin was mentioned but his actual appearance won't be for a few chapters. No Ichigo cannot kiss Rukia yet (because I'm torturing him) and because of another reason I have yet to elaborate on and because it won't really fit in any of these chapters. This section is mostly about getting the information out and it would be random if I just added "Ichigo gently grabbed Rukia's chin, pulling her towards him and ..." type of thing, too random for these chapters, but since you know it's IchiRuki, you know it's bound to happen :) I was going to just have Senna there (she was kinda gonna be like a "buffer" of sorts for a later part of the story) but I may actually write out a confession on her part ... maybe. And sorry for lack of reviews on my part, I'm really really lazy :) don't worry I'll hop to it (kinda) but my Spanish . . ._

_Sassymom25 - Your review makes me feel like an evil person! Lol, sorry you ran out of chapters but don't worry I'm still working on more to come! Thanks for the review :)_

_Random song: Defeating Rain - Nana Kitade (*In Japanese)_

**Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach or Kitade**

* * *

계몽주외

What had he just said?

"Killed by your Virtue?" Rukia repeated.

"Yes," Ichigo said, "that is the only way to kill a Sin."

"But I thought you were immortal."

"We are but there is one and only one person that can kill us."

"But has it actually ever happened, I mean guess it has, since you know it works, that is, unless we're only speaking hypothetically of course?"

"You talk a lot, my nosy little one,"he said with a sighing laugh, his eyelids closing over his brown eyes. "Yes it has happened twice."

"Twice, but I thought all Seven Sins are here still …"

"Yes, after the Sins were killed the Epistle had to seek out and find new ones."

"But why, why would you even know in the first place that a Virtue can kill a Sin. Why would it happen, I thought that the Sin and Virtue had a special connection."

"Unlike a Sin, the Virtue can be overtaken by any one of the Seven Deadly Sin demons."

Rukia bit her lower lip, still pressed up against Ichigo's side she listened to the steady beat of his heart. "Can I ask which Sins were killed?"

His eyes opened but he didn't look at her, "The Sin of Lust was killed a little while after I became Wrath. The Virtue was overtaken by a demon of the Pride Sin and Hitsugaya wasn't around. We couldn't do anything because the family was spread far across the country and the Epistle hadn't been in contact with anyone in months. Not that it would matter, the previous Lust Sin was traveling only with her Virtue when it happened and those days, there's no way the news would've been able to reach us in time."

"What happened to the Virtue?"

"The Virtue? Hitsugaya cleansed him then he was sentenced, by the Epistle, to death. His sentence was carried out the next day."

'How cruel, for the Epistle to kill someone whose actions hadn't been of his own accord.'

Rukia waited, but he didn't continue. "You said there was another."

"Yes, I did," he seemed unsure of continuing the story. "The other Sin to be killed was, my predecessor."

"The Wrath Sin?"

"Yes," his eyes clouded in recollection, "strangely I had met her shortly before she was killed, but I didn't know it until later."

"The previous Wrath Sin was female?"

"Yes, she lost control herself. I don't know what happened but she became crazed and started killing unnecessarily. Her Virtue had no choice but to stop her."

"He had to kill her?"

"Yeah. She was killing the innocent and had tried to attack the Epistle, there was no other option," murmured Ichigo.

"What happened to the Patience Virtue? He didn't die too, did he?"

"I'm unsure, from what I heard, he asked to have his memory wiped, which is when we discovered that Virtues, like the Sins, cannot have their memories modified. He made some sort of deal with the Epistle instead and then he vanished. I don't whether he died soon after or moved far away. We never found any evidence of his life after he left."

He had to kill the one he loved, and he couldn't forget what he had done. At least he was not immortal, but he still had to live out the rest of his life, however long it may have been afterwards, with the guilt in his heart.

"It just sounds so horrible, to have to kill someone like that."

"The Patience Virtue," he paused looking down at her, "the Virtue of my predecessor, that is, resembled your friend that sits behind you in class."

"He looked like Kaien?"

카이엔 시바

"Hello, hello!" Rukia heard Matsumoto's voice echo off the walls, she appeared a moment later in the living room, with Hitsugaya and Momo in tow. "Aah Ichigo I saw your car taking off, I thought it was Kenzaki at first, off to go and drive your car into a lake."

After mentioning the resemblance between Kaien and the last Patience Virtue, Ichigo had fallen silent, Rukia almost thought he had fallen asleep. His breathing was deep and rhythmic, but his eyes were open and glazed, peering into a past that Rukia could only imagine.

"I thought it was a cliff," Ichigo listlessly replied, regaining focus as Rangiku plopped down next to him on the couch.

"No, he's too lazy to go and find one but he already happens to know where a pretty deep lake is," Rangiku said matter-of-factly.

Hitsugaya pointed to the blob that was Rukia, pressed against Ichigo's side, "Kurosaki, is that Kuchiki you have wedged against you there."

Ichigo lifted his arm slightly and Rukia scooted away from him, a red blush decorating her cheeks. "Hitsugaya," Rukia nodded her head slightly in greeting.

"Rukia!" Momo made to sit down by her but was beaten as Ichigo pulled Rukia back to him.

"Where do you think you're going," he growled, wrapping one of his arms around her again and closing his eyes as if about to take a nap. His siblings watched in curiosity, Hitsugaya even had a slightly shocked look on his face as he sat down in the armchair across from the couch and cleared his throat.

Ichigo opened one eye and looked over at Hitsugya, "What Toshiro?"

"Kurosaki, despite my best judgement, I have heard that we are filling in Kuchiki about our family, at least until the Epistle returns," he stiffly said.

"Yes, the Epistle actually seemed interested in the idea, although I have no idea why."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, letting out a weary sigh, "What's the point?"

"What? The point of telling Rukia? Call it my conscience."

"Wrath is making a call, based on his conscience?"

"Shut up Pride, just because you don't have one."

"Umm," Rukia quietly said.

Ichigo and Hitsugaya continued their pointless banter, full of insults, mostly relating to being blond or looking like a child.

"Aaagh Matsumoto!! What are you doing?" Hitsugaya squirmed, his fight interrupted due to his face being held tight between Matsumoto's breasts.

"Rukia was trying to say something and you two didn't shut up," Matsumoto winked at Rukia.

"Why-didn't-you-get-Ichigo-then?" Hitsugaya rubbed his cheeks once free from Matsumoto's "booby trap."

"It's unwise to make him mad, he is Wrath you know."

"That's no excuse Matsumoto …"

"Quiet Toshiro," Matsumoto dramatically pressed one of her fingers against his lips, shushing him. "Let's see what Rukia has to say."

"Oh, it really wasn't a big deal or anything," Rukia held up her hands, frantically waving them in front of her.

"Go ahead and ask, it's okay," Matsumoto motioned with her hand.

"I was just thinking about how Pride is the original sin and all, and Hitsugaya is Pride, so I was wondering if he his actually older than everyone else?" spit out Rukia quickly, making sure to avoid looking in Hitsugaya's direction.

"Pffbt," Matsumoto and Ichigo burst out laughing.

"Shut up you two. It wasn't funny you bastards. Hey, I said shut up," Hitsugaya eye was twitching like mad, as Matsumoto fell on the floor, clutching her sides as she beat on the ground with one hand.

Hitsugaya picked up a pillow from behind him in the armchair and hit Matsumoto with it then chucked it as hard as he could at Ichigo's head.

"Sorry, sorry," a breathless Ichigo said, removing the pillow from his face. "That question, you are the original Sin but you still look like you're our little grade school brother."

"Tooooshirooo," Matsumoto was finally able to sit up, "It's not our fault you look like a grade schooler."

"I do not look like a grade schooler!"

"Um Ichigo," Rukia was trying to make sure Hitsugaya didn't direct his anger at her. "Is Hitsugaya older than you then?"

"Yes, much older in fact. He's the oldest of all the sins, because he's the 'big and mighty' original sin and all."

"How old is Hitsugaya then," Rukia whispered.

"I'm not sure, but he became a Sin when he had just turned fourteen if I remember correctly," Ichigo was still having troubles wiping the smile off his face.

"Matsumoto is …" Rukia looked over the strawberry blond.

"About six hundred give or take, but I became a sin when I was twenty," Matsumoto held up two fingers and formed a circle with her other hand. "Hisagi's actual age is somewhere around mine, but he was chosen when he was eighteen."

"So time has stopped for all of you?" Rukia looked around the room, feeling younger and younger by the second.

"Yes, we have two ages, the one from when we were chosen to be a Sin and our actual age," Matsumoto said. "Geez imagine what we would look like if we were our actual ages."

Ichigo ignored Matsumoto as she made funny faces of what she thought a 500+ old lady would look like. "I think Kenryuu is about fifty years older than Hisagi, he became Sloth though when he was sixteen," Ichigo said scratching his head. "Yoshino is the newest to the family, I believe she's around eighty years younger than me, but she was chosen to be Lust when she was twenty one."

"And our oldest brother wasn't chosen until he was twenty six, but his real age is actually close to Hitsuagaya's real age," Matsumoto pointed to the white haired boy

Ichigo smirked, "It's weird that he was picked so late, especially considering Toshiro was chosen when he was fourteen. I bet even when Toshiro was fourteen though, compared to the rest kids his age, he was still small in comparison."

Hitsugaya had heard the last part of Ichigo's response and turned his evil eye in his direction.

"Kurosaki."

"Don't worry Ruk," Matsomoto was still rather giggly, "Toshiro will begin to look older now that he's met Momo. He actually ends up getting rather tall."

"What?" Rukia only half heard what she was saying as she watched the stare down match going on between Hitsugaya and Ichigo. They both sat on the floor, facing each other, less than a foot apart.

"Didn't Ichigo tell you yet? The Sins begin to age in physical appearance again once they've meet their Virtue," Matsumoto pointed to herself and Hitsugaya.

"What! But I thought you were immortal," Rukia jerked her head towards Matsumoto.

"Sorry Rangiku," Ichigo strained to say, as his eyes started watering. "I didn't get there yet."

"Well Rukia," Matsumoto had her 'let's get down to business' voice in action. "The Virtues are mortal, like humans. They age and get older and eventually die."

Rukia nodded, as Hitsugaya turquoise eyes remained wide open and unflinching as they glared into Ichigo's brown ones.

"So since the Virtues still age, the Sin will begin to age like a human again, in appearance at least, until the Virtue passes on. The only time a Sin ages, is after they meet their Virtue, and then they begin to grow older from their original age, from when they were chosen. In Ichigo's case, he begins aging from the age of eighteen once he meets his Virtue again, no matter what her age is," Matsumoto continued, apparently oblivious to the building tension that seemed to be radiating from the direction of her brothers. "After the Virtue dies, the Sin returns to the original age from when they were chosen and doesn't begin to age until they meet their Virtue again."

Rukia's mental light bulb dinged, "So you have had multiple Virtues."

"Correct, and the Virtues can still be killed like any other human so it's the Sins job to protect them," a cool female voice said. Rukia turned to the entrance of the living room, where Yoshino stood holding Ishida's hand.

"Yoshino," Matsumoto frolicked over to hug her sister.

"Oi, Toshiro let me join in, I owe that blond idiot still," Kenzaki said appearing behind Yoshino and Ishida with Yoo Hee in tow. Hitsugaya nimbly dodged as Kenzaki tackled Ichigo.

"Umm, should we stop them," Rukia was the only one that seemed concerned.

"Nah they're immortal remember," Yoo Hee sat in the chair Hitsugaya had been occupying.

"Okay, "Rukia still was not thoroughly convinced that the brawl was safe to continue. "Umm since you have multiple Virtues, is your Virtue always a boy?" she looked up at Yoshino, who was now leaning against the door way, Ishida still by her side.

Yoshino smiled, "Yes, in fact my Virtue is always Uryu, he just goes by different names and appearances each time I meet him."

"What she means," Hitsugaya had somehow managed to break up the melee and Ichigo now sat beside him. "Is that our partner is always, technically, the same person, even if they go by a different name or have a different appearance."

Kenzaki lay on his back on the floor as he caught his breath.

"Still confused," Rukia said.

"The Virtues go through reincarnation," Matsumoto summed up, bluntly adding, "It's like reusing the same underwear."

"Did you just compare us to underwear?" a disgusted Ishida interrupted. "We are nothing like dirty under garments."

"The physical body dies, but the soul, spirit, what ever you want to call it, is reborn in a new body and the destiny of them meeting us begins again," Ichigo being the voice of common sense (well making as much sense as anyone could in this type of conversation) said.

"There's no chance that you'll choose the wrong the person?" Rukia asked.

"No," Hitsugaya replied. "We always meet our Virtue and our Virtue always falls in love with us. We, the Sins, are already and always will be in love with our Virtue, a relationship with anyone else would just be unnatural." as Hitsugaya spoke, Ichigo looked at Rukia, his brown eyes burning into her dark violet ones.

Rukia had to break away from his stare, biting her lip. "Is there a reason only the Virtue undergoes reincarnation?"

"Not that we know of, but I think it has something to do with the Sins being able to cleanse demons even without their Virtue, it's harder but still possible," Hitsugaya said. "It is rare when we do have all seven Virtues present but each Virtue usually reappears again and signals the Epistle within twenty to thirty years after time of death."

Matsomoto noted the stare Ichigo was giving Rukia, "For some reason, Ichigo has been without his Virtue for a very long time now. It's been almost forty years since his Virtue died, and she still hasn't shown herself again and we have no idea why."

Hitsugaya smirked, "Well, look at who her partner is, she either decided she really didn't want to come back and deal with the idiot or she might just be defective in some way."

"Shut up Toshiro," Ichigo snapped. He looked away from Rukia, staring at the floor.

"Umm um" Rukia spoke up trying to prevent another fight, of any sort. "Is there a reason your other two brothers don't have Virtues right now?"

"The Kindness Virtue, that goes with Envy passed away about fifteen years ago, due to old age. The Charity Virtue, Hisagi's Virtue, was ... she was murdered around ten years ago, in Europe. Hisagi wasn't with her because he was helping me with a demon," it was the first time Rukia had seen Yoshino with such a sad expression on her face.

"Anything else?" Matsumoto asked, trying to pull attention away from Yoshino.

Rukia looked away as Ishida wrapped his arm around his Sin's shoulders. "When the Virtues return and meet you guys again do they remember anything of their past lives?"

"Hmm, not that we've ever heard of. We retain all of our memories but the Virtues seem to lose all recollection of their past selves," Hitsugaya said and Matsumoto nodded in agreement.

Kenzaki pulled himself up into a sitting position, "I don't know sometimes, I think my Virtue may get back her old memories, when we're busy in bed, right before she-"

Hitsugaya and Ichigo had both slugged Kenzaki in the stomach at the same time.

"Ouch, how do you know that when I meant something bad by that?" Kenzaki whined, hunched over.

"Busy-"

"- in bed," Ichigo finished Hitsugaya's sentence.

"I meant busy playing cards, god what are you perverts thinking of?"

"Kenryuu," Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.

"Ahem, despite their loss of memory, all the Virtues retain certain personality traits of their past selves," Hitugaya brought the conversation back into safe waters. "There is even similarity in appearances of the present and past versions of the Virtue."

Ichigo was looking at Rukia again as she uncomfortably shifted under his heavy stare, "So couldn't you just find a Virtue based on what they look like?"

"No, I said similar not the exact same," Hitsugaya pointed out.

"Right," Rukia was still avoiding Ichigo's gaze. She looked over to Yoo Hee instead. "Why is it that Yoo Hee is the only one not in high school with the rest of you?"

"Yoo Hee didn't want to join us in school seeing as how she's twenty four," Kenzaki shrugged. "My original age from when I was chosen was sixteen, and I met Yoo Hee, when she was twenty, that was about four years ago, so technically right now I'm only twenty plus my cute and youthful appearance helps me pull of the high school look," Kenzaki smiled, using his fingers to poke dimples into his cheeks.

"Shut up Kenryuu," Ichigo karate chopped the said boy's head. "Rangiku is pushing it with the high school thing too. She's now twenty two since she started aging, her Virtue is twenty, they've been together for two years."

"But our oldest brother would not be able to pull off the high school act, he didn't become Envy until he was twenty six," Kenryuu interrupted. "Since our oldest brother was chosen at such a late age, it gets somewhat awkward, not to mention illegal when his Virtue shows herself when she's still sixteen."

"It's funny though," Matsomoto added and Ichigo and Kenryuu nodded.

Rukia looked in the bespectacled boy's direction. "Ishida?"

"Ah, I am twenty but I only met Yoshino about a year ago," he said pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"And as you know," Ichigo continued, "Toshiro will also start aging again now that he's meet Momo."

Rangiku laughed. "The Humility Virtue is always older than Toshiro because the earliest that any virtue has ever appeared is sixteen and Toshiro's original age is fourteen."

Toshiro's eye twitched, "Matsumoto!"

"What of Hisagi, is he still aging?" Rukia looked to Ichigo.

"No, as soon as the Charity Virtue passed, he returned to his original age of eighteen."

"Aren't you out of questions yet?" Kenzaki yawned as he sprawled out on the floor, "I'm so tired."

"We could just let Ichigo finish," suggested Yoo Hee, but her idea was immediately shut down.

Multiple shouts, along the lines of "no" to "no way in the freaking hell no!" were heard.

"Bad idea, Ichigo will make us all out to seem like some crazy fairy tale and confuse Rukia to no end," Rangiku said.

"Whenever I look at him I get distracted by the lack of flashing signs he needs around him at all times, that say 'stupid', so I don't even listen to what he says in the first place," Hitsugaya added.

Rangiku pointed to Ishida. "Remember when everyone was busy except Ichigo when we found Ishida, so we had Ichigo do the explaining. When we got back Ishida thought he was being "punk'd" and threatened to sue us for sending some crazy blond guy after him."

"Yeah, he scares everyone away with his scowl. Not to mention his hair," Kenzaki threw an evil grin in Ichigo's direction. "I'm surprised you've ever even been able to talk to your Virtue without scaring her away first."

"It's not just his hair, he has a rotten stinky attitude," Rangiku nodded. "He used to scare everyone away when we lived in Canada."

"And he scared away Yoo Hee when we first tried to make contact," Kenzaki added.

"Alright, Alright! And some of those things you said have nothing to do with my explanatory skills, you were all just having a go at my hair," Ichigo was on his feet.

"There goes that mouth of his again."

"It's going to get is in a mess of trouble some day."

"Hasn't it already?"

"Well, now that you mention it-"

"Shut up! I get it, someone else explain then," Ichigo grumbled glaring back at his adoptive family.

...

"Too much work for me," Kenzaki scratched his belly. "I'm going to bed, will you take me dearest," he said to Yoo Hee as he held up his arm. Yoo Hee sighed and grabbed his arm, forcefully tugging his body from the room.

"Don't worry," Rangiku said to Rukia. "They do that all the time but I'll go too, Gin is supposed to call me soon," Matsumoto waved as she left.

"Night Kurosaki, I'm tired," Hitsugaya stood, motioning for Momo to follow him.

"Wait, wait, wait! You all just raked me over the coals because you didn't think I could explain this all to Rukia, now you all ditch me?" Ichigo turned to look at Hitsugaya.

Despite his short stature, Hitsugaya still appeared as if he was talking to someone younger and smaller than himself. "Go find Envy, I don't have time, besides he's the best at explaining all this."

Ichigo glared at him a second longer before pulling Rukia to her feet to follow him. Rukia heard the door shut behind her as she exited the condo, and followed Ichigo out to his car.

"I know this is all very confusing but it's always hard to explain," Ichigo mumbled to her. "I'll take you home for tonight and we'll try and finish this up tomorrow night."

"Okay but Ichigo I was wondering if I could ask about why you were chosen to be Wra-"

He stopped suddenly and Rukia ran into him.

"Ichigo what's wrong?" she peered around him. Ichigo stood, fists clenched as he stared at the blond man in front of him.

"Oh Kurosaki, there you are. I'm guessing you have the girl with you," the blond man looked around Ichigo spotting Rukia. "I see, what they said is true. She does have a certain resemblance to her," he said scratching the stubble on his chin, his eyes studying Rukia's face. "The exact same eyes as all your past Virtues."

Ichigo pushed Rukia back behind him, "What are you doing here Urahara?"

우라하라 키서게

* * *

_And the appearance of a "mysterious" man! Urahara, here by popular demand, not really more like because what's a Bleach story without this crazy man?_

_Still some more info to some, all that stuff on the rest of the list!_

_I'm a bit hesitant as to how to write about Spoony head's dialogue, I heard he was a crazy, perverted, psycho of sorts. Anyone have suggestions as to what episodes are best to watch to get the gist of speech style._

_If bored, you can read **Ardor **(please !)_

_-Tres over and out_


	11. Who am I Important to?

_Hmmmm, thoughts for chapter 11:_

_This chapter has already gone a quick rewrite (thank you Nekura Enzeru for advice)_

_A little break from the info cramming and a little more IchiRuki_

_IchiRuki kiss .... will happen eventually (have to feel the moment!)_

_I can't remember whether or not I said they had school tomorrow/the next day, and I read back through some previous chapters and couldn't find anything, sooo ... I just decided it's the weekend in Of Sins and Virtues world (cause I don't feel like changing what I wrote to fit a school setting)_

_I hate the english dubbed version of Bleach._

_Sorry, I've been a bit distracted by **Ardor** but don't worry, I'm getting my focus back on track (for the most part)_

_Next topic:_

_AllShallPerish - Urahara, yes I agree, when he appears it usually entails some twist or trouble of sorts. Thanks for the review :)_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord - Ichigo bashing is always fun and I'm glad you liked it :) Thank you for the review!_

_Sim-Chan - Your guesses are as great as ever. Rukia can't be confirmed as Ichigo's sin yet, but hmmm I can't really tell you what will happen one way or another, sorry. Thanks for the review._

_Ichi-Ruki4Eva - No worries, because I haven't talked about why exactly each person became a sin and how. I'm glad that this isn't too confusing and that Rukia's questions help. As always, thank you much for the review._

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - I can't tell who the epistle is yet, but it will be revealed. Epistle isn't Isshin Kurosaki and I'll reveal whether or not he's a sin when his identity is revealed. Sins creation/choosing will also be in an upcoming chapter as well as why each character is their designated sin. Thanks for the questions and sorry that I didn't answer them yet, but I hope to get the chapters with the answers out soon! Thanks for the review :)_

_AvaLuna - I'm happy you like the story :) thank you for leaving a review._

_Sassymom25 - I'm glad the details are a positive thing, I was worried at first that all the info would just be too crazy. Thank you for the review!_

_Nekura Enzeru - Delightful review as always. Um hmm, the previous Lust's back story will definitely be worked in later, I'm glad you like the reincarnation thing, Punk'd ... yeah I think it's lame too :) and Gin is temperance, Rangiku is Gluttony (Was on a roll and didn't really type to carefully, sorry). Thanks for the advice on Nniotra viewing, but man does he have weird pants. Thanks for the help :)_

_Anna Haruno - Ichigo will be mad, when the time calls for it, no worries :) Urahara will be talked about a little in this chapter but he also has a bigger role coming up. Thank you for the review!_

_nightsky321 - THAT IS SO NICE!! You are such a nice person :) thanks for the review!_

_Hatake Tsughi - Sorry, that was an evil cliff, bringing in Urahara then ending it, sorry sorry, but thank you for the reviews :)_

_Song: You Do, You Don't - Friday Night Boys_

_**Disclaimer: **Do not in any way own Bleach, Twilight (if I mention it in here, I forget) or embarrassing, foo foo, love love cafes for couples. (Oh don't have any ownership on Friday Night Boys either, I just keep getting lamer by the second.)_

* * *

개인 지나서

"Come, come now Ichigo, is that really any way to greet me after our long time apart?" The blond man smiled, reaching up to pull the brim his green and white striped hat further down over his eyes.

"Urahara, you only appear when there's something troublesome for me," eyeing the man warily, Ichigo reached a hand behind him to clasp Rukia wrist.

Urahara chuckled lowly as he walked towards the pair. "I'm hurt that you only view me as a mischief maker of sorts." He stopped less than a foot from Ichigo. "No, this time I'm here for a much more important reason."

Rukia was surprised at how quickly he sidestepped Ichigo, as his face suddenly appeared less than six inches from hers and he leaned down, looking at her, eye to eye.

"Very interesting, I guess this was worth the trip out here," he reached out, placing his hand under Rukia's chin to lift her face, exposing it to the scant light provided by a nearby streetlight. Rukia gulped, what was his interest in her?

Ichigo swatted the man's hand away and pulled Rukia back behind him. "Urahara, we'll be going unless the order has been issued."

"Not yet, but you obviously know why I am here," he straightened and turned, heading in the direction of the condo, "I will be seeing you later, once the order becomes official." He waved back at them over his shoulder. "It was nice meeting you Rukia."

새로운 지인

"What are these orders the man was talking about?" Rukia clutched her seatbelt in fear as the car sped out of the lot.

Ichigo cast her a sideways glance from the driver's seat, letting the car's speed slightly decrease at the sight of Rukia's white knuckled grip. "It's nothing important."

"What? Not important?" Rukia's eyes narrowed, as she loosened her hold on the now crimped seat belt.

"Yeah, it's nothing for you to worry about."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really?!"

"Yes!"

...

"You're the biggest, most idiotic, stupid, berry headed moron I've ever met," she said rather quickly, under her breath.

"What?"

"Why are you hesitant to tell me anything? Do you not trust me?"

"No, that's not it, I just don't want to drag you in any further."

"It seems that I'm already in pretty far. How many more secrets can your family have?" she was starting to get fed up at his stubbornness.

"You haven't even heard the worst of them," he unconsciously rubbed his tattoo again, keeping his eyes straight ahead on the road. "But that's not the point, besides Urahara is of no concern, it is not important."

That again, Rukia felt stabs of annoyance. "Not _important_? Obviously it's_ important_, that man, made it clear that he came to see you over a very _important_ matter. You've just told me all this information about all these things and people that shouldn't exist, but do. And suddenly this strange man shows up, out of nowhere and says he finds_ me_ of all people "interesting." I've never even met this man before! I'd say that it's somehow _important_!" she bit out the last word.

She was taking deep breaths, waiting for his answer. She glanced over as the silence dragged on. Despite the scowl, which Rukia was now getting used to seeing on his face, there was also a slight smirk gracing his lips.

"Che," he finally broke the quiet. "I'm just trying to protect you, but I can see you're going to insist on being stubborn."

He ruffled his hair, as per his habit as the road opened up into a view of her home. Ichigo, silently brought the car to stop outside the front of the building.

"Urahara here only means one thing," he said, holding his forearm over his closed eyes. "Urahara mobilizes the sweepers when there's going to be memory modification on a large scale. The fact that he's here means that my family is going to be moving soon."

Moving? Had she heard him correctly? Rukia's heart plummeted at the realization of what his family leaving would entail.

He would be leaving also.

"Are you sure?" she quietly asked.

"Yes, usually we just leave when we're done living in a location, but in this case, we have to erase Momo from everyone's memories."

"Momo? She's going with you?"

"Yes, she's part of the family now, even her birth family will forget that she ever existed," Ichigo's voice was bitter.

"Why?"

"The secrecy rule, it's what we always do. It's just how it is."

"Does Momo know?"

"Yes, and she actually seemed to be okay with it."

"So," she didn't want to ask because she knew she would regret the answer. "Are you leaving too then?"

"Yes, it's best that we all leave, because once the memory wipe is done, no one in this town will even remember we every existed."

Even her? No, she didn't want to know, she already knew the answer and hearing it from his lips would only make it more painful.

She was having troubles breathing, and her heart was throbbing with an ache she had never felt before. He lowered his arm and gave her a look of longing before sighing and reaching for the handle of the door.

"Let's go," he shut his door behind him as he got out, Rukia took a further second to compose herself and stepped from the car, following him up to the revolving door of the hotel.

"Tomorrow, I'll come pick you up, I have a morning appointment to attend to, but I can skip it and come and hang out with you instead if you'd like," he gave her a wistful look, silently begging her to accept.

"No, you shouldn't have to change your schedule to accommodate mine," Rukia smirked. "Besides, we've been spending so much time together I think I've been getting a rash from all the daggers being glared my way."

"Daggers?! Is someone threatening you?"

"No, no relax, I was just using a the literary tool called a metaphor to make a witty comment."

"Shut up, the only part that registered in my mind was the daggers. Just trying to make sure you're not doing anything stupid, like playing with knives or running with scissors"

"Really? Speaking from experience with the scissor thing?"

"No! Jeez I don't know why I'm always so nice to you when the only thing you seem to do is insult me," he joked.

He was standing very close as Rukia unconsciously inched backwards, closer and closer to the revolving door. "Umm, Ichigo about why you're so nice to me."

"Yes?"

"Is there any specific reason you've been spending so much time with me lately?"

"Um," he was for once, since Rukia had met him, grasping about for words. "Well, because, umm, you know."

Rukia smiled, holding up her hand in front of her mouth to hide her grin. She had never seen him so flustered, the deadly Wrath Sin could be shy.

Ichigo stared at the ground, still blabbering away, "Well yes, that and yeah and yeah."

"What was that Ichigo? Did your bleached hair finally frazzle out your last lonely, little brain cell."

"Very funny."

"Thanks, well good night, I think I'll be going to bed."

"Rukia listen," he seemed desperate to speak but something made him consider his words carefully.

"Yes, Ichigo?"

"Rukia, listen, I'm worried about _why_ I'm able to spend time with you in the first place."

"Why?"

"Because, anyone that gets in too far, is erased by the Epistle in one way or another."

"What, I thought the Epistle was okay with me knowing."

"He is, but the Epistle, our father figure, is nothing like a real father. He holds none of us in any sort of compassion and his affection only seems to extend as far as his self and mother. He has no room in his cruel heart for anyone else."

"Why is that important to me?"

He bit his lip, pausing, "Even before I asked him, he requested that I tell you of our family. He has a plan in mind and it somehow involves you."

"I think you're overreacting, I am in know way important to your family and I don't even know who the Epistle is."

"That's beside the point, the Epistle knows who you are, and for some reason is keeping an eye on you."

"But-"

"And you are important."

Rukia paused, looking up to see a pink tinge creep onto his cheeks. "What was that?"

He cleared his throat, "Nothing."

"Yes, come on you can tell me."

"Nothing, I said it was nothing"

"Fine," she waited but he was silent, "Well, night I guess."

"Wait," he reached his hand out, grabbing hers. "I said, I said that you are important."

"Now what are you talking about?"

"I said you're important, to our family."

"Oh, I see," she looked at him, seeking his eyes shrouded under his blond bangs. "Is there a particular person in your family that that applies to?"

"You should know that answer already."

"I have a guess but I want to hear it from you."

"You're going to make me say it?"

Rukia nodded, locking her violet eyes onto his brown ones.

"Fine." He let out a sighing laugh, his cinnamon breath, fanning her lips.

He leaned towards he, pressing his hands flat on the glass behind her on either side of her head.

Unfortunately for Ichigo, he was leaning against one of the panels of glass that happened to be part of the revolving door.

"Ouch," Rukia groaned, momentarily dazed. "When did I get on the ground?"

"Sorry," Ichigo said, from above her. Rukia blushed noticing the position Ichigo held. His kneeling form, hovered inches above her own body, his legs on either side of hers, and his hands braced on both sides of her head, half their bodies in the chamber that housed the revolving door and their legs still sticking outside.

"Ichigo?"

"We fell through the revolving door."

Rukia groaned, "Smooth."

"Shut up."

"I think my head has a bump on it the size of a dinosaur egg."

"Pssh, doubtful, if it we're that big, it would be the same size as you."

"Shut up, it hurts."

"You should be thanking me my little one, the reason your legs don't hurt too is because the door shut on my legs instead of yours. If it had, your legs would probably be broken because they're so puny."

"Thanks, I think,"

Ichigo sat up, pulling his legs to sit criss cross, leaning back against the curved glass wall. He pulled Rukia up, into a sitting position next to him, tucking her under his arm.

Rukia sat next to him in silence. 'Had he almost kissed her?'

She felt him shaking next to her, "Ichigo," she turned, kneeling to face him. "Are you okay?" she put her hands on either shoulder.

He was laughing, laughing so hard his eyes glimmered. "I'm fine Rukia," he chuckled. "No need to worry my little one."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, this is just the happiest I've been in the last forty years, I just never thought it would be happening in a revolving door."

Rukia, smiled, yes this was one of her better moments also.

She began to pull away to sit next to him. He grabbed her, stopping her retreat. A hand was on her neck, his thumb stroking her jaw line and a hand was intertwined in her raven locks behind her head.

"But you make this all feel right," he whispered. The space between them voided, as the hand behind her head pulled her lips to meet his.

Eyes widened momentarily as Rukia realized what was happening. Her eyelids fluttered closed slowly and her eyelashes brushing his face.

This was too perfect, he was too perfect. Was this what all first kisses were like? All realization and feeling in her body seemed to have rushed to her lips, as if in an attempt to heighten the feeling of his lips on hers. She was calm and panicked all at once, wanting to see where this would take her and wanting to stay as she was forever, stay with her lips to Ichigo's.

She gripped the front of his jacket and pulled her body closer against his. His lips quirked into a smile and he pulled away from her.

"I'm sorry my little one," he seemed to be a bit out of breath, as was she. "Breath slowly," he smiled. "I didn't mean to take your breath away but that's the effect I have on women."

"Shut up," Rukia felt her coherent thoughts returning to her head and she put a hand on her chest, steadying her breathing. "You're too cocky."

"But you enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Shut up."

"Come on, you can't hide it from me, your face is as red as a strawberry."

"Says the big strawberry himself."

"The big strawberry you just kissed."

… "Anything I say will only inflate your ego."

"So I am good."

"Shut up."

"Come on, I have a feeling that if I offered free kisses, women would run just to get into line."

Rukia snorted, "Get in line where, at the nearest nunnery?"

"So now I turn women into nuns?"

"Pretty much."

"I take it you don't want another kiss now that you've decided to become a holy nun?"

Rukia bit her bottom lip, damn him and his cocky words that came from those perfect lips of his. Her mind was in a heated conflict, which to give into, her pride or her inner desires?

"No."

He was leaning closer towards her again, "No? No what?"

"No, I-I do," she whispered.

He ran tip of his nose ran down the bridge of hers, stopping his lips a breath from hers. "Good."

"Ahem," there was knocking on the glass from above her head.

Rukia's shot her head up, almost head butting Ichigo in the process. She turned, looking through the spotless glass into the hotel's lobby.

"B-b-brother?!"

"Rukia, can you please remove yourself from the entrance, I don't want to dissuade any customers due to your precarious position in the front of our hotel," Byakuya said calmly despite, his hands breaking the pencil he clasped in his hand.

"Byakuya, umm right yes, of course right away, sorry, umm just a minute," Rukia hastily stood, glaring at Ichigo, silently commanding him to follow suit.

He grumbled, totally unperturbed that a deadly man, who could probably commit murder and get away with it if he ever felt the need to, had caught him. Ichigo stood, following Rukia as she pushed through the revolving door.

"Brother, umm how are you? You're back so soon?" Rukia walked up to her brother, careful to keep Ichigo a safe distance away from her murderous brother.

"Yes, I finished business overseas a bit earlier than expected and ran into someone, who decided to return to Japan with me."

"Oh, I see, so we have a visitor?"

"Yes, let's go Rukia," Byakuya held out his hand, indicating that Rukia's night out, was indeed, over.

"Right," she inclined her head to him. She looked over he shoulder at Ichigo.

"Go ahead," he smirked, nodding his head. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He turned, locking eyes with Rukia once more before he was gone, out the door and vanishing.

His eyes, what was that look he had?

"Rukia," Byakuya turned her attentions back to him.

She reached out, taking her brother's large hand, as he pulled her after him. He released her hand as he stepped after her into the elevator.

The silence was stifling, as the elevator, seeking revenge on Rukia, made a slow, slow journey upwards towards the top floors.

"Rukia," her brother sighed, his facial muscles working overtime tonight, as his eyebrow furiously twitched and his jaw clenched. He sighed again, "Do I even want to know?" he murmured to himself.

"Umm, brother?"

"Rukia, who was that boy?"

"Uh, he's a classmate, he and his family just moved here."

"I see, but who exactly is he?"

"Oh his name? Right, his name is Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Kurosaki?"

"Yes, but he was adopted."

The elevator dinged, finally and Rukia forced her jittery legs out of the elevator to the door of their suite.

"Adopted? Is he part of that large family that recently moved here? His parents are engineers?"

"Yes," Rukia nodded, glancing at her brother. Was that a hint of panic she heard in his voice?

She opened the door, taking off her shoes and proceeding into the living room.

"Rukia," her brother followed her. "I don't want you to se-"

"Rukia, how's my favorite god daughter?"

Rukia looked to the couch to see the man that had interrupted her brother. "Ukitake."

He stood, coming to embrace her in his arms, like a father.

"More radiant every time we meet," he chuckled, holding her at arms length.

"Ukitake, how are you? How is your cough?"

"It's still here but I'm managing. I just thought I'd come and visit since it's been a long time since I've been in Japan."

"I wanted to thank you for the dress."

"Oh, I'm glad you liked it, but come let's sit and talk for awhile. Byakuya come on, relax, why do you look as if you just swallowed a lemon whole?"

문 회전

Rukia soaked in the bath. Tonight had been eventful indeed. Finally having been excused by her godfather to go to bed, she had rushed upstairs before her brother could get a word in edge wise.

'Ichigo, why did you have that look in your eyes?'

She realized what that look was, it was the same look her brother had all those years ago when he explained their parents passing.

She had been raised by her godfather and had always been told that her real parents were dead for as long as she could remember. It wasn't until she was older that she understood the real impact of the words.

"_Byakuya?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I was just thinking, why did mom and dad pass away?"_

He had looked at her, that look held in his grey eyes, as he had sighed and told her not today, but some other day. When she was older he would answer her question.

She had picture of her family. Her eyes were from her mother and her dark locks from her father. She had never seen Byakuya in any of the pictures of the family together.

"_Rukia, we need to talk._

"_Okay brother."_

"_Sit, and listen well. Our parents did not die from natural causes."_

"_What?"_

"_They were betrayed. Betrayed by their comrade."_

"_By a comrade?"_

"_Yes, I tell you this not because I want you to seek revenge, but rather because I want you to be able to forgive our parents for leaving us in this world. It was not in their control, the early ending of their lives."_

_"What happened?"_

_"Their partner, whom they had both been helping for many years, turned on them when our parents refused to tell him information relating to one of their missions. So, he trapped them and burned them alive."_

"_Wh-what? I don't understand."_

"_They were murdered."_

He had told her shortly after her last year of middle school, the full impact of his words creating sorrow in her heart as she tried to come to terms with the real reason she no longer had parents. Her parents had been taken from her due to the actions of single man, an evil man with a black heart. A man that she cursed with her whole being, despite not even knowing his name or face.

He had caused her pain, and he had been the only one to ever make that look appear on her proud brother's face.

Byakuya's eyes, as he spoke those words, still haunted her. His eyes, so full of expression as she had never seen them before, holding an emotion she would never forget.

The same look held in Ichigo's eyes just tonight.

Guilt.

죄 책감

"We are going where, exactly?"

"You'll see Rukia," Byakuya said, leading his petite sister after him, through the large pavilion of one of the nicer collections of businesses in Karakura.

"No worries Rukia," Ukitake winked at her. "It will be fun, despite Byakuya's dreary-as-ever-demeanor."

"Are we going shopping?" Rukia guessed, spying the store to which they were headed.

"Ah yes, good girl, as smart as ever."

"Thank you Ukitake."

"Well you're welcome, but direct your thanks to Byakuya, it was his idea to go and take you out for the day."

Her brother looked away, "I do not know what you're talking about Ukitake, besides you're the one always buying clothes for her."

"Only because a certain older brother of hers tells me of her upcoming events."

"I do not."

Rukia smiled, behind her brother's back. 'So Ukitake's sixth sense was actually her older brother.'

"But why are we shopping indeed?" Rukia peered up at Ukitake.

"It's not every day your godfather visits and I have a feeling that Byakuya doesn't spend as much time as he should with you, so this is a way for us all to get out a little and have a day in each other's company."

회사가 좋은

Rukia was given free reign in the store and much to her chagrin, Byakuya requested the assistance of one of the store's clerks who immediately grabbed almost all the clothes in sight and shoved Rukia into a dressing room. Rukia was sure the only thing that the girl had heard was come from her brother's mouth is "money is not an issue."

Dress, pants, shirt, dress, long shirt, jeans … how many clothes did this store have? She was sore from the continuous lifting of her arms above her head.

"Break?" she groaned, rubbing her head.

"Sure, of course Miss Kuchiki," her 'lovely helper' beamed. "But you must hurry back, you've only picked out one skirt."

"Right," Rukia nodded, "Just tell my brother I will be right back please."

She practically ran from the store, avoiding her brother and godfather who stood in the other half of the store, merely gazing at the assortment of ties. The sales clerks hovered nearby, none brave enough to approach, the pair, mostly Byakuya, to see if any assistance was required.

"Ah, that was more of a workout than I've had in a long while," Rukia shook out her arms.

A flash of color in her peripheral caught her attention. "Ichigo?" she saw his lean figure weaving his way towards the fountain in the middle of the pavilion.

"What is he doing?" Rukia quietly followed, making sure to keep from his sight as he spied a girl near the fountain and made his way towards her.

Senna turned as Ichigo came to stand by her side. "Hi Kurosaki, I see you got my note."

"Yes," he nodded. "What did you need to talk about?"

"Oh right, um did you want to talk about this somewhere a little more private?"

"Uh sure," Ichigo scratched his head.

'Why is he giving her that stupid look?'

They began walking and Rukia snuck along behind them

'What is that look, uh, curiosity?"

Senna pointed to something, looking at Ichigo and he nodded.

'No, not curiosity. Um, skepticism?'

The pair began weaving through the crows again in the direction Senna had indicated.

'No, most likely not. Wait, I've got it.'

Rukia followed the pair to a restaurant, a cozy little, bathed in pink restaurant meant for couples.

'Confusion. Why is he confused? Wait, does he really not know why Senna called him out here? God, he's dense for having lived for so long.'

Senna and Ichigo were seated at a table for two and Rukia, desperate to listen in on the conversation, hesitated at the door.

A waiter, sporting the restaurant's red vest attire, eyed Rukia. "Umm miss, do you wish to have a seat?"

"Uh, yes, can I sit near that couple over there?"

"The table with the blond guy? Sure, do you have someone who's joining you?"

Rukia blushed, feeling like an idiot. To come in this restaurant of all places alone.

"Ah sorry I'm late, sexy girlfriend," a hand clapped onto her shoulder.

"Kaien, why are you here?" Rukia said, looking up at the dark haired boy.

"Silly love muffin, I told you I was going to meet you here." Kaien motioned for the waiter to seat them.

A large, extravagant, pink plant separated her table from the one Ichigo and Senna sat at.

"So sugar gum drop what shall we order?" Kaien gazed at her from across the small table.

"Kaien," Rukia chuckled, "What are you really doing here."

"Actually, I was here because I was getting something for my father but I spotted a damsel in distress and being the princely man that I am, I decided to come to your rescue, Rukia, oops I mean honey."

"That's creepy," Rukia said quietly trying to listen in on the conversation at the table's next to hers.

"Aah but I'm a good actor aren't I? We probably look like the best looking couple in the world."

"Well, I don't know about that but I really do appreciate your unique brand of assistance."

"Don't feel too indebted there, my red-faced shorty. Besides I'm interested in what Senna has to say to Kurosaki too."

"You certainly saved me from a load of humiliation," Rukia nodded. "And dumped a whole other sort of embarrassment onto my shoulders," she added under her breath.

"Right, sweetie cakes, apple of my eye, caramel in my candy uh salt on my crackers."

"Thank you for comparing me to food," Rukia and Kaien were both leaning slightly towards the table Ichigo and Senna sat at.

"What can I say, I'm a charmer, but for some reason you've always been impervious to my charms."

"What?" Rukia turned her attentions away from the adjacent table and looked to the boy across the table from her. Kaien really had never noticed her feelings towards him? And did this mean that Kaien had feelings to her at one time? Why had he not acted on it?

"You've always had a special place in my heart Rukia," strange how he could say such words without so much as a light pink shade of any sort gracing his cheeks. "But I realized too late. I know that I do not hold the same place in your heart."

"I do not understand."

"Someone else has become the love of your life. And now I am merely content to be the friend that's always there for you whenever you are in need and for whatever the need may be."

"Kaien,"

"Nope, it's okay Rukia, I think I've dealt out enough mush to last us both for years to come."

"Or at least till tonight."

"Or that."

"Sorry to interrupt," they finally noticed that their waiter had reappeared, and was awkwardly staring at the pair. "Would you like to order?"

"Sure," Kaien glanced up at him. "How about the cheesecake for me and the strawberry shortcake, for my little shortcake." He winked at her.

"Oh thanks, um s-sweetie." Rukia nervously replied.

The waiter hastened to make distance between himself and the strange couple.

Ichigo and Senna chatted away about nothing in particular Ichigo sipped his hot chocolate and Senna devoured a piece of cake. Ichigo spoke politely the whole time but had that look of curiosity on his face as he stared at the girl across from him, clearly still wondering what she had wanted.

"Senna sure is taking her sweet time," Rukia said.

"And Ichigo is too clueless to take notice," Kaien sighed listlessly as he cut a neat slice from his cheesecake with the side of his fork.

Another few minutes of polite conversation before a long silence ensued from the on the other side of the plant.

"Um, Ichigo," Rukia heard Senna say.

Ichigo looked a bit surprised that she had used his first name but nodded to the girl nonetheless, indicating that she had his attention.

"As you must know, there is a reason I asked you to meet with me today," Senna intertwined her fingers together.

"Right," Ichigo was still oblivious. Rukia resisted the urge to grab one of the large metal trays, the waiters carried around, and bash it against Ichigo's head, multiple times.

"Well, you see, I just really wanted to tell you umm" Senna blushed a most magnificent shade of red as she hesitated. "I just wanted to tell you that I really, really like you and I was wondering if you would go out with me!"

She had said it. Rukia couldn't believe Senna had actually done it, but she had to admit the girl had guts.

Ichigo was at a loss for words. Whatever the poor, oblivious boy had been expecting it apparently hadn't been a confession of love.

"God, he's such an idiot," Rukia hissed under her breath. "Say something you stupid strawberry."

"Um well," Ichigo was shifting around uncomfortably in his chair. Rukia and Kaien both ducked a little lower in their seats. "I'm flattered, really I am. You seem like a great girl, but I don't think I am what's best for you."

Senna's eyes widened, "B-but how can you know?"

"I'm sorry, I hope you can understand that this is best for both of us," his voice was soft and he stood, going to lightly place his hand on the top of Senna's head. "Do not dwell on this please, because love is not always a once in a lifetime thing."

He strode from the table, Kaien and Rukia both grabbing large chunks of the gawdy plant to hide behind as he went by. Ichigo pulled aside a waiter and handed him a credit card, pointing to the table that Senna sat at. The waiter nodded, turning to the register. Not even waiting, Ichigo walked out the door, not glancing back.

Senna sat dumbfounded, staring down at her hands. "Go," Kaien said as Rukia stared after Ichigo. "I've got Senna."

"Thanks," Rukia said, reaching into her pocket.

"No, don't worry this is on me," he held up his hand. "Think of it as a celebration of the best friendship in the world."

"Kaien, when did you get so corny?" Rukia said. "But thank you, take good care of her." She snuck out from behind the plant and headed towards the entrance.

She spotted the mop of blond hair outside the window of a clothing store. She sidled up to him, finally nudging him with her elbow.

"Hey."

"Rukia?" he raised an eyebrow. "We weren't supposed to meet until tonight. You stalking me?"

"Not hardly," Rukia elbowed him again.

"Watch it with those boney limbs, you might actually bruise me."

"Somehow I doubt that a blunt object, like my elbow, will cause someone like you bodily harm."

"You never know," he said. "So, what are you doing here my little one?"

"Well, I'm shopping or I was but then I saw you and Senna," she nervously nudged the toe of her shoe into the ground, "and well Kaien and I kinda, sorta followed you."

"Oh," he didn't seem angry but rather, the tension his body had held, seemed to lessen. "So you heard?"

"Yes, actually I knew she was going to already, going to confess that is. She told me the day before b-but I'm sorry for being nosey."

"No, it's fine, this saves me the trouble of having to tell you. In fact, I was worrying over how I as supposed to tell you that one of your best friends had just confessed to me."

"It wouldn't have been a problem," Rukia tried to say nonchalant as possible.

"Oh really," Ichigo was on to her. "So you wouldn't care one way or another if I got a girlfriend."

"N-no, not in the least. I'm not your keeper or your Virtue, so I really have no say in the matter anyway."

"Fine, I'm off to find me a girlfriend."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both stood there, pointedly looking away from each other. "So," Ichigo scratched his chin. "You met Kaien here?"

"Yes, it was purely by chance, I had no idea he was even here," Rukia paused, an evil smirk appearing on her face. "Why?"

"No reason."

"Reeeeeally?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" said Rukia, her grin widening.

"Yes, now shut up," Ichigo stubbornly crossed his arms.

"You shut up."

"No you."

"You!"

"You!"

Yet another silent stand off between the pair as Rukia glanced over and caught Ichigo's eye. He smiled at her, and despite herself Rukia felt a smile creep onto her lips.

"Hey idiot."

"Yes, Rukia?"

"What about your card?"

"I'll just cancel it later."

"Why not just save yourself the trouble and go back and get it?"

"Nah," he yawned. "Too much of a hassle. I don't want to run into Senna again, at least for awhile.."

"No, you're probably just being really lazy," Rukia shook her head.

"No, that's Kenryuu."

"And stupid."

"Again with listing Kenryuu's traits. Maybe I should tell Yoo Hee that she has competition."

"Shut up."

"You."

"You."

"As much as I'd like to continue this battle of ingenious wits with you, those guys staring at us from inside the store are starting to creep me out," he pointed a finger at the store window they stood outside.

Rukia peered in, "Oh crap." Byakuya and Ukitake stared back at her from the clothing store Rukia had originally started in. Ukitake had a look of amusement on his face and Bykuya's face gave off a look clearly calling for castration.

"I'll let you handle this," Ichigo patted her on the head. "Catch you later tonight."

"You're going to leave me alone to deal with this?"

"Exactly."

도 청

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Discussion on demons_

_Meet the last sin_

_Talk on sweepers_

_And other stuff_


	12. What Is a Lost Memory Worth?

_Uuuuuuhhhhhhh, so chapter 12_

_Well, anyone want to tell me what happens when your story runs out of life on the Document manager? I've been looking at the countdown and wondering, but not really caring tooooo much and I really don't want to go and read through loads of rules/terms of use and stuff to try and search it out (although knowing my luck it's somewhere completely obvious isn't it?)_

_Hmmm I haven't been able to get online as often I usually do, so I haven't been able to read other's stories or leave reviews, or update my stories or read any mail and I think fanfiction. net doesn't like me ... _

_Sorry, but I thought I should put this on it's own because I've had a lot of questions relating to it but Gin Ichimaru is already in the story. He's the Temperance Virtue (Matsumoto's Virtue, Matusmoto=Gluttony) and he is in the U.S._

_Ummmmm, yea lack of sleep and lack of editors (**Trzy and Trois I neeeeeed YOU!!!!!**) has definitely been causing some funny occurrences in my writings lately. As of now the chapters might (only a might) to take longer to come out (probably) due to me having to proofread myself (I'm slow and like to double, triple, multiple check) and I really am a stickler of sorts so I'll be proofreading more (aarrrrrrrghh!!!!)_

_Proofreading my own work = baine of my existence. I can read other's stuff but when I try and read my own, I tend to skip over stuff and then start worrying more over plot than grammar. I happen to be a comma fanatic too._

_Next hmmmm school is over soo I will/should be working a lot more on the story (I hope) now that summer classes are over and to try and get more out before fall term starts._

_Nekura Enzeru - Yes, sadly not one of my better chapters :( but it's been rewritten (mostly me taking stuff out) and the virtues, well I supposed they could regrow limbs since they're all immortal and super fast healing and stuff but Byakuya really won't be castrating Ichigo (we can't risk losing that important body part) and hopefully this chapter will be better and thanks for the help/advice._

_Llyssa-maiden - I felt bad for Kaien too!! And don't worry, Byakuya is a lot nicer in my story than usual._

_Hatake Tsughi - Actually the parents positions are still a bit up in the air!!! I'm very indecisive and I really want the most shocking to come out of the parents but thank you for the review :)_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Lovely questions as always, (your curiosity always keeps me on my toes) buuuut hmm, which can I actually answer ... Epistle is not Isshin, or Gin (he's the Temperance Virtue) and not Aizen (he's going to be entering the story though in this chapter). Byakuya and Ichigo's guilty looks will be talked about later, but Ichigo's has to do with Rukia not being his virtue, and Byakuya's has something to do with Rukia's parents dying. Uh, I'm still deciding on the actual relationship of Byakuya and Rukia. Kaien and Senna, hmm should I leave that up to imagination or would you like me to make a firm deciding on it? Feel free to keep the questions coming :) helps keep my mind in line, and thanks for the review :)_

_DanceOfTheWhiteMoon - Hahaha very interesting mood swing, made me smile, but I'm sorry for causing the dip in your mood. Thank you for the cheering review!_

_chad001 - I fixed the the lust/temperance thing, it's lust/chastity and gluttony/temperance. What is "AU" by the way? Wait, never mind, I'll just Google it :)_

_Green Eyed Tabby - Thank you for the wonderful review :) makes me feel all happy inside! I'm glad you like the story so far and Envy is up in this chapter (I hope he's a good choice). Oooh thanks for reading Ardor (it's definitely still a work in progress) too, you are just a super person. Thanks for reviewing, reading (both stories) and for the encouragement._

_Anna Haruno - Inquisitive as always :) but nope I have yet to mention anything really on Rukia's parents, other than they were murdered. Her parents as well their real involvement in the story, I'm actually still working on. Thanks for the review :)_

_Grace of Angels - Thank you for the very nice review :) I'm glad you like my story! I can tell you for certain that Byakuya is not the Epistle. Ichigo and Rukia, I'm still working on the exact nature of their relationship but it should be revealed in the next few chapters. Lastly there will be more Urahara, because I agree, he does make stories more interesting. Thanks once again for the great review :)_

_Sim-Chan - Lol :) yeah I know, I'm being a very bad "fence sitter" at the moment, but this will be an IchigoxRukia just not quite sure about the role of each. I'll add kisses where they fit but for now it's back to information cramming. If there's room, or a place for jealous Ichigo, I'll be sure to add it (although I guess he was kinda jealous of Kaien for meeting Rukia at the mall) and I like Byakuya as a nice older brother, he is after all my favorite character from Bleach, thanks for the review!_

_Song for awhile: Come Back to Me - Utada Hikaru_

**Disclaimer:** Don't in any way own Bleach (or Utada's music)

* * *

위험한 비즈니스

"So, his name is Byakuya huh? What's up with that guy?"

"Well, Ichigo, you see, he's a hard person to get to know and well …"

"He seems like a prick."

"That's not true, stupid!"

"So, what's his deal?"

"My brother, uh well, for some reason he doesn't like you."

'Doesn't like' was the understatement of the century.

_Byakuya had been silent the whole trip back from the mall, pulling out his cell phone and merely striding into his room after returning home. He was on the phone for near an hour as Rukia and Ukitake sat in the uncomfortable silence that followed in his absence._

"_Rukia," Byakuya had reappeared, looking more strained than she had seen him in a long time. He tapped a pencil lightly against the table as he sat down and stared at her. So, the interrogation/talk with her elder brother began._

"_Yes brother."_

"_That boy, what is he to you exactly?" the tapping stopped. Her brother was always straight to the point, he had no reason to beat around the bush._

"_Ichigo? Oh, he's just a friend."  
_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes brother."_

_"Why was he with you at the mall today?"_

_She already knew her answer, it was perfect, "Coincidence." The perfect explanation for explaining away awkward questions._

_"You had no plans to meet him there?"_

_"No."_

_"Do you spend time with him often, outside of school specifically?"_

_"Well, I was planning on well ..."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Seeing him tonight."_

_"I'm not sure I like that idea," more like he hated the idea, and wanted to take the idea,break it in his hands, then stomp it into a pulp upon the floor._

"_Byakuya, come now, tell me you're not discouraging her from seeing him?" Ukitake had stepped in. Byakuya shot Ukitake a glare that would peel paint from walls, as the pencil in his hand snapped into pieces._

"_Ukitake, you know that there is a very good reason for such discouragement."_

_Ukitake cleared his throat lightly, and gave her brother a threatening look, as he slighting inclined his head in the direction of Rukia. "Byakuya, let's be reasonable." _

_"I am being reasonable."_

_"Byakuya," Ukitake's voice was as serious as Byakuya Kuchiki's himself. Rukia had never seen anyone stand up to her brother, let alone get away with it. Guess Ukitake was the exception._

_Her godfather indicated to Byakuya that the conversation should be continued elsewhere._

_Her brother's eyes narrowed momentarily, before he let out a loud huff of breath and looked to his sister. "Rukia, we'll finish this discussion later."_

_Byakuya and Ukitake both stood, heading towards the study but not before Rukia caught part of their conversation._

"_No, he's just too dangerous, you know that as well as I do, Ukitake."_

"_Yes, I do know but you and I also know that Rukia resembles them."_

"_I want to avoid it until there is a hundred percent certainty."_

"_It's not our call to make, we'll leave all the heavy decisions to the …"_

_Their conversation was cut off as the door had closed and Rukia was left to ponder their words._

_Her brother and godfather were hiding something from her, but then again who wasn't these days?_

_Ichigo_

_Why did you choose me of all people to tell you secrets to? I'm nothing special, so why has my world been turned upside down by you?_

비밀

Byakuya had allowed Rukia to spend time with Ichigo that night, and Rukia had a feeling that Ukitake had done some pretty strong convincing on her behalf.

_"Ten, not a minute after, or so help me Rukia, that boy will have every cop in this town after him."_

_"Thank you brother."_

_"Take your cell phone, and call me immediately if anything is strange."_

_Strange? Riiiiight._

Rukia had rushed down to the lobby minutes before Ichigo was supposed to come and pick her up, insisting to Byakuya that he didn't need to accompany her. As she had rushed out her front door, Rukia caught a glimpse of Ukitake sticking out his foot to trip Byakuya as he had tried to follow after her.

대부

"Your brother doesn't like me," Ichigo merely shrugged. "He's one of many, on a long list of people that hate my guts too."

"I'm sure your list is actually a book, right?"

"Yeah, probably," he smiled. "Come on, let's go." He had taken her out to the house, that Kenzaki had originally brought her to, the day after the bank robbery. She followed him onto the wrap around porch of the white, two-story house, noting that the ever present crease in his brow seemed more prominent that usual. Did he seem unusually preoccupied?

Ichigo held one of the wooden double doors of the house open for her, reaching out to take her hand and pull her inside.

The dimly lit entrance had a high ceiling and Rukia looked up, amazed that she could see the starry night sky through the domed glass top.

"Now, where is that fool?" Ichigo strode through the large room outside of the entrance.

"Ichigo, what are we doing here?" Rukia asked glancing around, what she assumed was, the living room as she trotted after Ichigo. A fire was in the marble fireplace, casting shifting shadows over the various pieces of furniture nearby. A large flat screen television covered most of one wall and crystalline light fixtures dotted the ceiling. There were various doors, leading away from the living room on either side but all were shut. Ichigo headed towards a closed door, pushing open the polished oak and stepping into a brightly lit kitchen.

"You're going to get another history lesson, our history that is," he looked around the large room. There was no one in the clean kitchen and the large windows that occupied two adjacent walls, only opened into the darkness of the night. Ichigo scoped his surroundings, understanding crossed his face and he strode over to a slightly ajar door in the left wall.

"Should've known," he sighed, "where else does he spend his time?" he began to descend the stairs, behind the door. "Come my little one," Ichigo said as he glanced back, making sure Rukia was still with him.

"Ichigo who-"

"Don't worry Rukia, we're just searching for my eldest brother. He's going to be your 'teacher' tonight, so to speak."

The stairs led down into a large, circular room. A grandiose, round table occupied most of the center of the room and five, evenly spaced, doors were set in the curving wall.

Ichigo pulled Rukia after him, taking her hand to lead her around the large table and into the door, directly opposite the stairs. Rukia momentarily thought she had stepped into a hospital. The room was all white and adorned with the same furnishings as an infirmary.

"Ichigo," a voice turned Rukia's attention in the direction of the first bed in a row of beds. "And Rukia, right? Did you two come to visit me?"

"Shuuhei," Ichigo dropped Rukia's hand as he went to stand beside the bed his brother currently occupied. "How are you feeling?"

"I still think that it gets worse each time I take care of a demon but it's just because I hate the feeling," Hisagi smiled. Rukia sheepishly stepped closer to the bed, staying behind Ichigo.

"Um, I never did thank you for saving me the other day," Rukia piped up.

Hisagi winked at her, "Oh, that. Well, you're welcome, but there's really no reason to thank me, I was just doing my job."

The door on the other side of the large room opened and a brown haired man entered. "Ahem, who is in here disturbing my patient?"

"Sosuke," Ichigo inclined his head in the man's direction, as he strode up, stopping at Hisagi's bedside. "Sorry, I forgot about your 'no visitors' rule."

The man gave Ichigo a pleasant smile, "No, that is not quite right. I allow visitors, but do you not think it wise, to first check with a patient's doctor before proceeding with your visit?"

The man walked over to the bed, carefully taking Hisagi's wrist into between his thumb and first two fingers. "I need to do a quick check up, then you are all free to chat as much as you like," he paused, his concentration elsewhere. "Good, your pulse is still at a consistent rate and from what I can tell, you seem to have some more color back in your cheeks," he said to Hisagi, releasing his wrist.

He turned, finally getting a good look at Rukia's face. "Ah, Ichigo is she by chance …"

"No, she's the one that helped us find Momo. The one the Epistle has allowed into our world for now," Ichigo nudged Rukia with his elbow.

She took a few stumbling steps forward. "Um nice to meet you, I am Rukia Kuchiki."

"Pleasure," he bowed his head to her. "I am Sosuke Aizen, Ichigo's and Shuuhei's elder brother. From what I just heard, it sounds like you are indeed aware of the Sin and Virtue quality of our family."

Rukia bowed her head in return and nodded.

"Are you aware of the Sin that I represent?"

"… Envy?"

"Correct, Envy, or _Invidia_ in Latin," he seemed pleased that she knew the answer. He examined her face for a minute longer before he shook his head, and headed back to the door he had entered in. "For now Ichigo and Rukia, I must take my leave. I am currently in the middle of a rather interesting documentary that I would enjoy reading the end of."

"Oh wait, Sosuke, I'm actually here to see you," Ichigo said. "Hisagi was just like a detour of sorts."

"You're the worst brother ever," the said 'detour' sighed, leaning back in his bed.

"Very well Ichigo, what is your reason for visiting me?" Aizen smiled.

"I would actually prefer to discuss this elsewhere," Ichigo lowered his voice, "in private."

A curious look replaced the look of ease that had currently been set on Aizen's face. "How about we discuss whatever the matter is, in my office then?"

"Yeah, that'll work," Ichigo followed Aizen from the room, "Rukia, stay here with Shuuhei."

Rukia sighed, sitting in a chair beside Hisagi's bed as Ichigo followed his Aizen from the room. She crossed her arms and legs, tapping her foot.

"Ya know, it's kinda funny," Hisagi reached up, interlacing his fingers behind his head. "Ichigo hardly ever let's the more human side of his personality show. He's always the Sin, Wrath. But around you, he's more of his true self."

Rukia shook her head, "I doubt that I could have that affect on him."

"Trust me I've been around him for hundreds of years and there's no mistaking it. It's just odd though, because the only person that can bring out the other side of Ichigo, besides the family, is usually his Virtue. But you're not her right ….?"

He shook his head, indicating that she didn't really need to answer, "So, how much have they told you?"

"Your family?" Rukia looked at him and he nodded. "Well, I know about all the Sins and Virtues, your immortality, the reincarnation of the Virtues, a little about your father, your ages ..."

"Did you learn anything of the sweepers?"

"Yes, just what they do but I don't understand how it works, the memory modification I mean."

"I don't really understand any of that stuff either," he sheepishly scratched the side of his face, "it's better to talk to Envy about such things. But did they tell you anything about the demons?"

"The demons," Rukia pondered for a moment, "No, I don't think so, but all this is so hard to grasp all at once, that it could have been mentioned and I just don't remember."

"In any case, they are still an important part to who we are as Sins, so ask away."

"Ok," Rukia tapped a finger on the arm of the chair.

A minute passed as Rukia thought, Hisagi let out a loud sigh, "I think I'd have more fun talking to a strudel right now, than you."

"Sorry, sorry," Rukia held up her hands, "These questions are hard to just come up with off the top of my head, I don't even know what these demons are."

"Okay," he sat up a bit straighter in his bed, "we'll start there then. The demons, there are seven kinds, one kind for each sin. Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, Wrath and Lust. These demons are born when a human becomes immersed, very deeply, in one of the Sins. Whichever Sin is most dominating, is the one that takes over. They are spiritual entities that are unnoticeable to humans."

"So, humans don't even notice when they're possessed?"

"Not at first. The human just becomes more immersed in the sin, but with enough time, or a powerful enough demon, the demon will take full control of the human host," he placed a hand over his chest. "In the end, they lose their hearts."

"Their hearts?" Rukia put her own hand over her steadily beating heart. "But why do demons possess humans?"

"Without a human host, they have no way to interact with the physical world. I wouldn't say that they're completely harmless but almost harmless. Something in their nature makes them crave humans. Once a demon gains complete control, it devours the host's heart, soul, their whole being basically."

Rukia grimaced, a parasite, or disease, that's what she would compare the demons to. "But can't the demons be stopped?"

"Yes, what you saw me do at the bank was one way of stopping the demons."

"What did you do?"

Hisagi unconsciously rubbed his tattoo, "I pulled the demon into my own body and destroyed it."

Rukia looked at him, "Destroyed it how?"

"Normally, the demon will stay in the original host, because if they are separated, the demon will weaken and eventually fade into nothingness. I pulled the demon from the host and forced it into my body. Without being able to feed off a soul the demon was extinguished."

"The demon can't feed off your soul?"

"No, my soul is protected by the Epistle, he guards and keeps our spirits safe so we are free to absorb demons. Our souls still do remain in our bodies, but it's like there's a barrier protecting our souls from demons."

Rukia was confused, "A barrier?"

"Protection, put up by the Epistle. One of his many jobs is the protection of the Sin's souls."

"So, he has multiple jobs, so to speak?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah, he searches for Virtues, manages all the seekers, keeps our secrets from leaking and informs us when there's a particular demon he wants us take care of." Hisagi said. "One of his more important jobs, is to make sure that all the Sins are present and well enough to exterminate demons."

"So, are you all better now?"

"Yes, but Envy is being a bit more strict lately due to it taking longer than usual for the absorbed demons to vanish. The demon from the bank is still present but is by no means a threat any longer," Hisagi said, "If I can avoid it, I really wouldn't like to absorb any more demons, any time soon."

"You can absorb more than one?"

"Oh yea, but it is not enjoyable in the slightest."

Rukia had a feeling that 'not enjoyable' was putting the feeling in simpler terms. "What happens when you absorb more than one?"

"It just takes longer to get rid of the demons. Usually with one demon, the feverish feeling only last for a couple of days, but the more demons, the longer it takes to shake the feeling of sickness. I've only ever had three, max, and I thought my face was going to burn off," he shuddered at what, Rukia was sure, was a very unpleasant memory.

Hisagi scratched his chin in thought, "Hitsugaya is the one that's absorbed the most demons out of all of us, but that's only because he had a fight with his Virtue then, was too stubborn to ask for her help in cleansing the outbreak of demons that were of his Sin. I think he ended up absorbing eight, before his Virtue finally took pity on him and helped him out."

Eight, eight demons inside a body, attempting to escape or to trying get at the soul. The thought of only one sounded bad to Rukia.

"Can you feel it?" Rukia looked at him for any visible signs that he held a demon inside of him.

"Somewhat, it just feels like a constant heavy feeling, it's hard to explain. It makes you sick, and you feel feverish," he momentarily closed his eyes.

"Is that really the only way to kill them, for you to get sick?"

"No, there's another way. A better way," he was rubbing his tattoo again, silent as he thought. "The other way is to purify the demon rather than destroy it. This is done by the Virtues."

"The Virtues," Rukia thought of Momo, "How?"

"The Virtues, need only touch the possessed human to begin the purification process."

"Do they have to touch them on their heart, or head, or something, or can they merely punch the person in the gut?"

He smiled, opening one eye to look at her, "All those will work, except for the punch in the gut, it has to be full contact of the palm on the Virtue's part. Full palm contact anywhere on the body and, you may not be able to tell, but internally the demon will begin to lose it's hold. Then the Sin stabs the human, the demon is purified and disappears. Whatever wounds the human may have gained during the process, are healed."

"And the human is healed, after using the other process too, right? The one where you pull the demon out?"

"Yes, our swords actually reverse any damage caused by the demons and that includes wounds caused during the ridding of the demon."

"What happens if the Sin doesn't stab the demon after the Virtue has touched the host?"

"The purification process will continue but will take many days to weeks to complete, in which time, the demon is still able to wreak havoc, via the human host. Although, there is no way to reverse the Virtue's damage, the demon is not fully incapacitated by it."

"Can the Virtue purify the demon once you pull it into your body?"

"How we wish they could," Hisagi chuckled lightly, "but no, once we absorb a demon, the only thing that can done is let it's life run out."

Rukia tapped her finger on the chair arm in thought, "Can any Virtue kill any demon?"

"No, just the matching Virtue. The Charity Virtue can only cleanse Avaritia demons and the Patience Virtue can only cleanse Ira demons, excetera, excetera."

"I see," Rukia nodded, "And your weapon, your sword, where does it come from?"

"My sword, is like an extension of my soul. And this tattoo," he held up his right arm, "allows me to materialize it."

"Does Ichigo have a sword too?"

"Yes, all the Sins do," he said matter-of-factly. He leaned closer to her, indicating that he wanted to tell her a secret, "Don't tell Ichigo, but out off all the swords, I'd say his is the ugliest."

"Oi Shuuhei! Why are you so close to Rukia?" Ichigo had entered the room again, Aizen trailing in his wake.

"Secret between me and little Rukia here," Hisagi grinned, lightly patting Rukia on the head. "By the way Ichigo, you owe me, I filled in the little girl on all the demon stuff because you still hadn't gotten around to it. You can repay me in yen or strudels."

"Pssh, get real," Ichigo pulled Rukia to her feet.

"He may have told me about the demons, but he knew nothing about the memory modification," Rukia said.

Ichigo laughed, evilly smirking at Hisagi. "You didn't tell her? And why is that?"

"I just wasn't sure, that's all," Hisagi sulked.

"You actually don't know, do you?" Ichigo's evil smirk grew. "Sad, sad."

"So, what is the deal with the memory stuff?" Rukia looked up to Ichigo.

He froze, all laughter gone, "Well it's something like, *cough*cough* and complicated *cough*cough* and then *cough* well yeah."

"What?"

The gloom around Hisagi lifted and he wickedly grinned, looking at his blond brother, "You don't know either do you?"

"No, I just explained if you were listening! Idiot," Ichigo glared.

"Well then, let's hear it again," Hisagi said, putting a look of mock interest onto his face.

"How about I kick your bed ridden ass instead?"

Aizen held up a hand, stopping Ichigo, "Now, now children, no violent behavior in front of our guest, plus, Ichigo, if you beat up my patient, I will scalp you alive and then tattoo obscene words into the raw skin of your head." And strangely he said that all with a smile.

Hisagi stuck his tongue out at Ichigo, Ichigo scowled and Aizen continued to smile.

"Rukia, did you still wish to learn more about the memory modification?" Aizen asked.

Rukia nodded, "Yes, do you completely erase the memories or just place new ones on top of the original or …"

"Ah, Ichigo's right, you are very bright. 'Bright' being my own term for your interest in knowledge," Aizen sat down in the chair Rukia had previously occupied. Rukia shot Ichigo a dirty look, she had a feeling his word for her 'interest in knowledge' was something more along the lines of 'nosy'.

"The memory modification process removes all memories relating to the Sins, Virtues, sweepers basically anything relating to our family. These old memories are removed and replaced by new memories of the sweepers choosing. The sweepers all have their own preference for what type of memories they leave a person with. Some prefer happy and others sad. The whole process takes less than a second, if the sweeper is good."

All her memories with Ichigo would be replaced by something else, other memories of something that had never happened, and she would never know the difference. "But how are you going to erase the memories of the whole town?"

"I see Ichigo has told you what happens when we find a Virtue. When memory modification is done on a large scale, we gather about fifty experienced sweepers and station them around the perimeter of the town. They need only activate their power at the same time and the old memories will be stripped away and replaced with new memories, some sad, some happy."

"What if it's only a few people whose memories are being modified?"

"Each sweeper has his, or her, own preferred method or process for memory modification, but all have the same weapon of choice for getting the job done," he held up his pointer finger.

"They poke people?" Man, that sounded lame, the Sins get swords and the sweepers get to come around after them and poke at people, using their pointer fingers.

"Yep, they touch it to a person's forehead, activate their power and presto, no more memories of scary people like Ichigo," Aizen smiled, still waving about his index finger.

"If only it worked on me," Hisagi looked at Ichigo. "I have nightmares, frequently, of a certain, constant scowling, blond-headed idiot."

"Shuuhei!"

Rukia looked at Aizen, "Activate their power?"

"Yes, it's a mental thing, the activation requires some sort of mental concentration on the sweeper's part."

"Which is why, I don't understand how Grimmjow became a sweeper," Ichigo said. "That guy's as dumb as a post."

"I know," Hisagi jumped out of bed "and his routine for memory modifications is stupid too."

He dashed over to Ichigo, taking his pointer finger and dramatically tracing an X-shape on Ichigo's forehead. "I won't be seeing you," he stage laughed. He made his hand into a shape of a gun, pressed his index finger to Ichigo's head and said, "Bang!"

Rukia gaped at the idiots, "What the hell?"

"I believe that they are reenacting Grimmjow's style for memory modification," Aizen lightly applauded. "Grimmjow, one of our sweepers, likes to be a bit err, extravagant when he modifies memories."

"Grimmjow's is pretty lame," said Ichigo.

"I don't know," Hisagi crossed his arms, "Freaking Ulquiorra is pretty 'not cool' himself. He taps people on their forehead first then flicks them in the head. I bet they wake up afterwards with massive headaches or brain damage."

"Hey man, speaking of crazy sweepers, did you hear about how some human grabbed Mila Rose, because he was scared out of his wits, and she punched him in the head?"

"No, but I did hear about Sun-Sun and Apache somehow gluing their fingers onto a human's forehead. Apparently, they didn't believe that super glue really worked before that," Hisagi shook his head, "Yet another pair I to have wonder about the Epistle's thinking when he chose them as sweepers."

"Yea, I have to wonder about the Epistle's choices too sometimes," Ichigo sighed. "I had to beat the crap out of Szareal once, because he keeps trying to take people to test on. Then there's Kenpachi who thinks the best method for erasing memories, is to erase the person completely! He's always trying to kill the people whose memories he's supposed to be modifying."

"Did you see how Yumichika, modifies memories, before he does it he says, "Rest in peace." I mean come on! If anyone should be saying that, it should be us!"

"Really?"

"Yea! Don't you think we'd look cool?"

Rukia smiled, amazed, watching Ichigo and his brother joke around like normal boys (even if there topic wasn't exactly normal).

Would she and could she really end up forgetting about all this?

She looked at Ichigo, and he flashed her a grin. She would forget about Ichigo and not even realize it. Was it really possible to remove, from her life, the person that currently held her feelings of love, without her even realizing it?

잊고

* * *

_If there's any odd parts that don't quite mesh, let me know. This chapter is actually made up of multiple chapters, that I originally wrote to be separate but then decided to combine them into one, soooo there might be some strangeness._

_I still have about one or two more chapters of info before the story starts onto the next event :)_

_There's also another Chapter of **Ardor** up for anyone who's reading that story._


	13. When is Sin Forgiven?

_AAAAH!!! This update took me awhile but I totally have a reason why._

_I was babysitting and got CHICKEN POX!!!!_

_I was kind of mad that the parents didn't event tell me their kid had just recovered from the pox but now I have them and can't sit still for long periods of time. So, I've been taking lots of fun medicine stuff and sleeping A LOT._

_Sooooo, I also have been neglecting the updates and did this chapter (after applying a lot of calamine lotion) because I was worried about my lapse in update action._

_Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!_

_I'll probably have to revise this chapter but I really wanted to get it out, it's just not that great because I was a fidgeting mess when I wrote it :(_

_Hope it's halfway to decent._

_Nekura Enzeru__ - Thanks for the review :) I still have yet to read your newest chapter but I really want to (just keep getting interrupted) and feel free to use Aizen's lovely threat._

_Grace of Angels__ - A very nice review (as always) and yep Momo will be appearing again and I'm glad you liked Hisagi and Aizen character representation. Thanks once again for the review :)_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord__ - Yeah, I know I want to get onto the next part of the story too but questions keep coming up and I'm always worried that I'll forget something now and then a future even won't make sense because of it, but don't worry it's getting closer with each chapter. Thank you for the review!_

_Hatake Tsughi__ - Aizen always does seems like he's up to no good but I'll try my best to keep his creepy level to a minimum because he turned over a new leaf and is good in this story :) thanks for the review too!_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai__ - There's just some really odd sweepers and Ichigo and Shuuhei were making fun of Grimmjow. Don't worry there's some serious sweepers too, there's all different sorts and personalities (like the soul reapers in Bleach). What makes someone a sin is explained in this chapter, the sweepers are humans with power from the Epistle, Virtues are humans with the ability to cleanse demons (also from the Epistle, but that will be explained later) and Rukia's involvement, hmm that will be revealed later also (sorry, that seems to be my answer to a lot of things). Questions were wonderful as always and thanks for the review :)_

_Sim-Chan __- Rukia's role (I know I keep avoiding it) but I think it should be in the next chapter that I'll be hashing out that and I hope it's good :). Thank you for the review :)_

_Green Eyed Tabby__ - I'm glad the story flowed and you liked Grimmjows little routine :). Also thanks for reading Ardor (it's definitely still a work in progress) Thank you for the review for this chapter!_

_Anna Haruno__ - Oooh, thanks for the answer (I looked but couldn't find anything ...) I don't know if I'll have Rukia be possessed (maybe I'll do it as a tangent) because I really want to wrap this story up and I don't really know where I'd fit that part in .... (sorry) and Aizen as Envy, yeah I was a bit hesitant about that one too but I hope it works (somewhat) and Yes Byakuya and Ukitake are going to be more than just Rukia's brother and godfather, but that part won't be talked about for a few chapters. Thanks for the review!_

_Yuki no Ryuu - Ryuuki__ - I'm glad you liked it! The Korean doesn't work though ... It's really okay though, because the Korean words were just there as chapter breaks and they're only random words. Thank you for the review :)_

_Music: Beware! Cougar! - The Academy Is ..._

**_Disclaimer: _**_Don't in anyway own Bleach (and of course the musical artist The Academy Is...)_

* * *

다크 지나서 용서

"So, do I get to see your room?" Rukia asked Ichigo as she followed after him and his elder brother. They exited the infirmary type room after bidding Hisagi farewell and headed off down a different hallway.

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're just to nosy. I don't want you poking about through my stuff."

"Whyyy, have something in your room that you shouldn't have?"

"N-no."

"Don't worry Rukia," Aizen said, "He actually keeps all the inappropriate stuff stashed in a box somewhere in the basement."

"You foun … I do not!"

"Anyway Rukia, I actually have no way to tell if you are indeed Ichigo's virtue or not. All the virtues may look similar but they still carry a different genetic transcription and since it's not possible for the Sins and Virtues to reproduce, I can also rule out you as merely being the descendant of a past Virtue. That is, unless you're the daughter, of a relative, of a past Virtue. It that's the case, I suppose we can try tracing family trees but even if you are a relative, Ichigo shouldn't be feeling this pull towards you."

"I do not have a pull towards her," Ichigo scoffed, "If I did, it would only be down, because I have to hunch over when I talk to her, because she's so short"

Rukia made to kick Ichigo in the shins but Aizen beat her to the punishment, administering a karate chop onto Ichigo's head.

"Oi, Envy, you're supposed to be on my side! I'm your brother after all," Ichigo rubbed his head.

Aizen pushed open a door, motioning for the two to follow him. "As I was saying Rukia. Even if you are the Virtue, I cannot force you to show yourself before it's time. Because we would need a life threatening experience, and I doubt Ichigo here, would let me put you in one in the first place."

Ichigo growled lowly in agreement, "Over my dead body."

"But, what if she is your Virtue, the only way you'll find out is if she's in danger and her tattoo appears."

"No, I can wait until she's twenty one, when it will show up by itself without the need to put her life in danger."

"The tattoo will just appear when a Virtue turns twenty one?" Rukia asked, finally able to get a word in.

"Yes," Aizen nodded, sitting down in a leather office chair behind a large, polished yew desk. "Some Virtues are never discovered until their twenty first birthdays, because fate didn't have a life threatening event in store for them."

"When Toshiro's Virtue is twenty one," Ichigo said in a reminiscing voice.

"Ah yes, people think that she's his mother don't they?" Aizen said rubbing his chin.

"Yep, almost every time they went shopping together someone would ask how Toshiro how his 'mother' was so young looking."

Rukia had a feeling that Hitsugaya wouldn't appreciate the conversation.

"It's up to fate to decide?" Rukia asked, interrupting their remembrances.

"Fate has already decided," Aizen said. "Our lives are all planned out even before we're born."

'So they believed in determinism, not having any control over one's life. The omnipotent power of an invisible external power that knew the course of future for every human on earth.'

Rukia asked, "You leave everything to fate?"

"Yes, because we cannot fight what is supposed to happen," Aizen pressed his fingertips together.

"But how do you know that fate is right?"

"We have no choice but to do as fate has predetermined. What ever happens, was already planned and decided by fate."

So, even immortal Sins, were subject to fate. "Is fate a person?"

Rukia blushed as Ichigo burst out laughing, "No, fate is not a person, it's like a course of destiny. Why did you think it was a person?"

"Well, the Epistle is a person and the Sins are people so I just thought," Rukia mumbled. She looked from the amused face of Aizen to the laughter still present on Ichigo's face. 'I'm going to kill him later.'

"So," Rukia groped about for a new topic to change the subject. "the Sins and Virtues can't have kids?"

"Nope," Ichigo said.

"Can the Virtues have children if they were with someone other than a Sin?"

"No, why would they not be with they be with their Sin in the first place, you idiot?" Ichigo pushed Rukia into a chair and seated himself down into the one next to hers.

"But-"

"Nope, not possible."

"But what if -"

"No," Ichigo said stubbornly.

"Well, Rukia," Aizen said kindly, whilst he chucked a book at Ichigo's head, his aim on target, resulting in a loud thump as book binding and cranium made contact. "I suppose it's possible for the Virtue to have children with another person but it's not possible for the Sin to ever have children because the Sins no longer have the ability to reproduce."

'They don't have the ability? Is it because they don't have ...' Rukia blushed at her thought but asked her question anyway, "Is there, err a certain reason why?"

"Not that I know of."

"I mean do they not have the umm, you know stuff, er the parts that are required?" she mumbled a bit on the last part of her sentence.

Aizen chuckled at her embarrassment, "No, the Sins and Virtues all have all their reproductive organs still intact."

"God, what kind of pervert are you asking that question," Ichigo smirked.

Rukia blushed, "I am not a p-pervert Ichigo!"

"Yes Ichigo, the only pervert here is you," Aizen smiled, throwing is tape dispenser at Ichigo and nailing him in the head. "Oops, may have thrown that a bit too hard," Aizen said with a large smile on his face.

"Envy!"

"Oh, well," he shrugged. "Don't worry, he's immortal remember."

"That's no excuse! I can still feel it!"

"Right, but this will toughen you up."

"For why?!"

"Because."

Rukia glanced up at the large map behind Aizen's desk, noting the multiple pins placed all over, in various colors.

Aizen still arguing with Ichigo, noted her interest, following her gaze to rest on the wall behind him.

"Ah, yes the pins, are all the locations of our sweepers," he said with a wave of his hand. "We have to have sweepers stationed worldwide to help deal with the demons."

"Can the sweepers cleanse demons?" Rukia asked, ignoring the huffing sounds Ichigo was making.

"No, but they sweepers can err, detain the humans that are possessed."

Rukia paused, "Like putting them in jail?"

"Kind of, well no, it's actually more like, taking them and hiding them somewhere until the Sin is able to come and cleanse them."

Taking a person? That sounded an awful lot like "Kidnapping?"

"Right, but we prefer to call it 'detaining of danger.' It helps keep everyone safe."

Rukia stared at the smiling man, slightly dumbfounded, 'Kidnapping is kidnapping is kidnapping ... '

Aizen cleared his throat, "But by the sweeper retaining demons we are able to keep better control of the possessed population."

'So that was how the dealt with the demons on a worldwide scale,' Rukia studied the map. According to the pins, there were around six sweepers stationed near Karakura …

"I don't know if Ichigo told you, but we usually don't have much trouble finding the demons in the first place."

"Why?" Rukia turned her focus from the map.

"Hmm, we're not quite sure, but for some reason the demons, once they begin to devour a human's soul, then begin to yearn for our souls."

"Your soul?"

"The souls of the Sins. The demons are able to sense us and all will eventually come and try to overtake our souls."

"But they can't right, because of the Epistle."

Aizen nodded, "Correct. Demons don't know that though. They only can sense our very desirable souls."

"Don't say it like that Envy," Ichigo said, making a face of digust. "That makes us sound like appetizers."

"Actually we would probably be the entrees. The human the demon possesses is the appetizer," Aizen mused.

"You're sick."

"Ah, I am but sharing my very unique views of how I view life. But for now I need some thinking time." Aizen made a shooeing motion with his hand. "Miss Kuchiki has caused some very perturbing questions in my mind,"

어려운 질문

Rukia followed Ichigo up the stairs, through the kitchen and into the living room.

"I need to take you home," Ichigo glanced at his wristwatch, as he headed towards the front door, "don't want dear brother to worry now do we?" The thought would have been very sentimental, if not for the whole sentence being laced with sarcasm.

"Oi, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo turned, Rukia following suit, to look back near the fireplace. "Toshiro, what?" Ichigo sighed.

Hitsugaya stood, "I have a message to deliver. The Epistle would like to meet with you and Kuchiki."

Ichigo stiffened. "Why?"

"I don't know the reason. I'm merely the messenger," Hitsugaya shrugged. "Both of you just need to be here."

Ichigo stared at the smaller boy then looked at Rukia.

Hitsugaya sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Kurosaki, this is not a request, it was an order."

Rukia tentatively reached out and placed her hand on one of Ichigo's clenched fists. "I'm fine with the plan," she said softly.

Ichigo shook his head. "Fine, we'll be here. Let's go Rukia."

He pulled her from his house, as if determined to put distance between themselves and Hitsugaya.

드레드 희의

Ichigo had looked preoccupied all day. He had come to pick up Rukia at he house the next morning and drove her to school, saying no more than few words to her.

Rukia strolled alone down the empty hallway at school, skipping geography class for the day. She sighed rubbing her temples.

'Ichigo still hasn't answered why he's a Sin in the first place, he keeps dancing around the questions or is saved from answering in the first place.'

Rukia's feet carried her to he library and she slipped inside, going to hide is one of the back corners of the large room. She slumped into one of the chairs in a back corner, pulling a book out of her bag to at least make it appear as if she was working.

'Ichigo, maybe I am your Virtue, but if I'm not, it's probably best that my memories will be erased, that way I won't have to think about you being happy with another girl.'

She furiously shook her head, "Ah, I'm being selfish!"

"Rukia," a voice said overhead, "are you skipping class?"

"I'm sorry," Rukia jumped to her feet bowing her head, "I was um feeling ill, so I, I-"

"No need to apologize."

"Momo! What are you doing? I thought you were my teacher."

"Oh, I see that's what was going on," Momo held up a hand hiding her smile.

"Shut up jerk," Rukia felt the apprehension leave her as she sank back into her chair.

Momo sat down in the chair next to hers, interlocking her fingers and staring aimlessly into the floor.

Rukia sighed, "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"That's the 'Momo has a big worry' face. It usually means something is troubling you."

A small smile appeared on Momo's lips, "Right as always."

"So," Rukia prompted after several moments of silenced had passed.

"I-I just am not quite sure how I'm supposed to say goodbye."

"To who?"

Momo stare at her, her brows drawn in concern, "You."

"Me?"

"Yes, when I, you know, leave and everything."

Rukia leaned back in her chair. 'Right, Momo's going to leave all of us soon and no one will ever remember her existence.'

"I know I'll forget you, but don't be hard on yourself," Rukia reached out, placing her hand on Momo's clasped hands.

"You know that you'll forget," Momo looked slightly startled, she squeezed her hands more tightly together. "I'm sorry Rukia, this is all my fault."

"Momo don't be stupid. It's really important that your new family keeps your secrets and as long as you're happy, then I guess it won't worry me," Rukia fixed her with a serious look. "You are happy right?"

"Yes," Momo beamed, "Toshiro is so kind to me and always is protecting me, especially when we go and cleanse a demon."

'So she had already had to take care of a possessed human.' Rukia felt as if the Momo she knew had already been erased from her. 'Momo is one of them now, she's no longer just Momo, she's Humility.'

"Was it scary?" Rukia scanned Momo for any signs of an injury.

"A little but Toshiro and Ichigo were there with me. Toshiro made sure I didn't get hurt at all."

'He best have.' Rukia gave her hands a slight squeeze, "We'll say goodbye when we have to. We don't have to worry about overcoming that obstacle until we come to it. It will all work out though I suppose, right?"

Momo nodded, "Don't worry Rukia I'll always remember you, even if you don't remember me."

"Good, maybe we can meet again someday."

"Yes, I'll keep that thought to help me get through this," Momo sniffled.

"Momo, no crying," Rukia reached out hugging her best friend of more than four years.

"I can't help it," Momo rubbed her eyes. "But I promise we'll meet again someday Rukia."

Rukia nodded her head, smiling, "Fine, it's a promise."

만날 약속

"Rukia."

"Ichigo."

"Why are you so preoccupied, you almost knocked over Hanatarou back there," Ichigo fell into stride beside Rukia as she began her walk home.

"Um, just thinking."

"About what?"

"What are you doing?"

"Walking home with you, why? Is that what you were thinking about?" Ichigo asked, slight puzzlement in his voice.

"What about your car?"

"I'll go back and get it later, but I know that that is most likely not what's troubling you Rukia."

"Right."

"Then ..."

"I ... well, I was just thinking about how you always avoid a certain question."

Ichigo scratched his head, "About?"

Rukia bit her lower lip, pulling her book bag higher up on her shoulder, "About why you became a Sin."

Ichigo tensed, a heavy silence fell as they continued to walk.

"Do you really wish to know?" he asked finally, his voice low.

"Y-yes," Rukia said with uncertainty. What was his reluctance for?

They stopped outside the entrance to the Kuchiki hotel, Ichigo staring up at the face of the building.

"I heard from Momo, that you have a garden on top of this building."

Rukia tilted her head to the side, "Yes," was he avoiding the question again?

"I'd like to see it."

"Sure, okay, let's go."

희피

The frost and snow had finally completely melted from the rooftop, leaving empty flower pots and gardens in its wake.

Ichigo sat down on a low garden wall, "The sun feels nice."

"I'll have to start replanting soon," Rukia observed, sitting down next to him. Just what was he doing? "Ichi-"

"Hey."

"Y-yes?"

"If I tell you of the reasons of why we were chosen to be Sins, I don't want you to think less of any of my family."

"Why, why would I?" Geez, he was confusing today.

"Sins are things people are guilty of, they are offenses, crimes. So, do you think we were chosen to represent these wrongdoings because of our righteousness?"

"When you put it in that context, then no, I guess not, but were the reasons you were chosen really so terrible?"

He held up his wrist to her, his tattoo in full view. "Yes, the Sin we represent is the sin we are also guilty of."

Wrath, Ichigo was guilty of falling into the sin of Wrath.

He avoided her eyes, avoided seeing the realization that she knew Ichigo had something in his past that was dark. "The Epistle offers a way to lessen the guilt of your Sin, through the service of cleansing other's Sins. "

"Only lessened, never truly forgiven?"

"No, not us."

He reached out grabbing a piece of paper from his book bag and writing a name down. "Toshiro is which Sin?"

Rukia hesitated, "P-pride, right?"

"Yes, the sin of Pride," he wrote down Pride next to Hitsugaya's name on the paper. "Failing to see the good qualities of others and having an excessive love of one's self. Toshiro was chosen because he was guilty of the Sin of Pride," Ichigo said.

He shifted uncomfortably before continuing. "Toshiro used to be a prince, the first born prince, thus the most likely candidate for becoming king. He was raised as a pampered child, always coddled, spoiled and his every whim indulged. He knew he was in a position of importance and exploited every advantage he had to his standing. By the time he was twelve, he had ordered the death of over a hundred of his servants, guards and caretakers."

He paused letting the words sink in.

"Toshiro, never became king," Ichigo said haltingly. "Just after he turned fourteen, he was killed, or so was the rumor. He was thought to have died, when part of the castle collapsed and he was crushed to death under the large stone slabs.

"He did, in fact, survive and was found by the Epistle. I really don't know why Toshiro accepted the offer to become a Sin, but I have a feeling that he thought of it as a position of great importance that was above that of a king, when in fact we are merely the servants of the Epistle."

He wrote down another name on the paper. "Sosuke Aizen."

His elder brother, "Envy," Rukia murmured.

"Correct, _Invidia_, the Sin of Envy or having voracious desires. Envy sees only the lacking, the items, attributes, skills that one's self does not have but another possesses. To see what other's have and resenting them for it and wishing to deprive them of what ever it is."

He wrote down Envy, "Sosuke, was a craftsman of sorts, from a rather low status family. He made swords as his father had before him. Apparently he was quite skilled but didn't like losing customers to cheaper sword smiths. He began to think it was due to a lacking on his own part of skills, or family standing, that he lost business. So, when hard times hit, to prevent his loss of patrons, he got rid of the competition. He killed multiple sword smiths and their apprentices, and his frenzy became so terrible that he began killing anyone that possessed a great skill that he did not. He killed seamstresses, smiths, carpenters, weavers, all sorts of blood stained his hands.

"He was very cautious and shrewd with his dealings in death, but when he finally was caught, he ran. It was during this time, when he was running from the men hired to hunt him, that he met the Epistle and became Envy."

Rukia was silent. His family, they were murderers of sorts. She gulped looking to Ichigo, was even Ichigo guilty of taking another person's life?

"Ryusei Kenzaki," he wrote down next. "Sloth, or failure to put to use one's talents or skills. It can also refer to laziness of just complete indifference."

Sloth went next to Kenzaki's name. "Believe it or not, Kenryuu was the son of one of the best known healers of the time. Like his father, Kenryuu had a knack for being able to correctly diagnose an ailment and find the correct treatment to cure or alleviate it.

"Kenryuu never really did enjoy helping his father. When his father became ill himself, Kenryuu didn't even come and look at him. His father died and Kenryuu became the only healer in a rather large village. When there was an outbreak of a rather nasty fever, Kenryuu caught the fever. He was able to heal himself, after finding a plant that lessened the symptoms enough to the point that his body was able to combat the disease. A large majority of the rest of his village contracted the exact same sickness. Many villagers came to Kenryuu for help and Kenryuu recognizing the symptoms, did nothing.

"He fled, hiding from his responsibility as a healer. He never had a moment's peace from the people seeking his help and was always on the run. It was at this time that he met the Epistle or actually one of the sweepers there on the Epistle's behalf. I believe he only agreed to becoming a Sin because he thought he would be able avoid his responsibilities. Instead, he gained a whole other set that he hadn't expected."

He moved down to the next line on the paper, writing "Shuuhei Hisagi."

"Greed," Rukia said.

He wrote down Greed next to Hisagi's name. "Greed, also know as avarice. A sin of excess, in this case and excess in wealth. It can apply to treasons, betrayals things of those sorts that result in personal gain, through bribery, scavenging, and theft. Greed is seen as being manipulative, tricky and sometimes violent."

He paused, tapping the pen to the paper in thought. "Ah, yes, now I remember. Hisagi was the head of a large group of bandits. He started the group at a very young age after running away from home, and by the time he was seventeen the group had grown to a very large size. His sin, was killing to make a profit. His group attacked travelers and villages. He made deals with other groups, and then betrayed them, leaving them to get caught while he himself made off with the spoils.

"He and his group were finally caught. They were all thrown into a prison of sorts and were to be killed the next day. Shuuhei devised an escape plan but the plan would only allow for his to escape. His men found out his plan and instead, of helping him to escape, they bound him and left him face down on the floor of their prison while they broke out themselves. Shuuhei was rescued by a sweeper and from there made the deal with the Epistle. Shuuhei's original purpose, when he accepted the deal, was merely to live."

He glanced at Rukia, noting her wide eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but as you can tell, there are reasons that you didn't find this all out earlier."

"No, it's not scary. This is rather just an eye opener of sorts. I guess your first impressions aren't everything."

"What do you mean?"

"When I first met Hitsugaya, I never would've known he was a prince, just as I never would have know the Kenzaki was a healer. Your families' past, I never would have been able to even imagine what you are now telling me."

"We are all less exuberant in our wrongdoings than we used to be. Five hundred years is a long time to change old habits and we've all learned to better control our transgressions. But we still do maintain some aspect of the sin for which we were chosen."

On the paper, he wrote 'Rangiku Matsumoto.'

"Gluttony," he said, writing the word down after Matsumoto's name.

"I was wondering why Matsumoto was Gluttony, she's skinny," Rukia pointed out.

Ichigo shook his head. "That always seems to be the thought when Rangiku is introduced a Gluttony. Gluttony is over indulgence of any kind to the point of being wasteful. It includes eating too soon, too much, too eagerly, to daintily, too expensively or too wildly.

"In Rangiku's case, it would be too much, too eagerly, too wildly and way too expensively. Her over indulgence wasn't in food though, no, in her case it was alcohol, of any sort. She drank away her family's fortune and squandered their possessions away for money to buy more drink. She had a huge debt in multiple towns due to the IOU's she began to pass out in exchange for drinks.

"It got so bad, that one night she killed a merchant that refused to give her wine. It was in this time frame that she was saved by the Epistle and became a Sin."

"Thus Rangiku became gluttony," he sighed, "Another Sin I have to wonder about why she agreed to becoming part of this process."

He glanced over at Rukia, looking for any signs of fear in her eyes. He reached up a hand, ruffling his hair before moving down a line on the page. He wrote Yoshino Soma.

"Lust," Rukia said.

"Lust, excessive desires or notions that are sexual in nature. Lust covers all crimes of adultery, bestiality, perversion, incest, sexual addiction and rape.

"Yoshino's life was rather extravagant and pampered growing up. She had multiple suitors but none that she ever truly wanted. She knew her looks could be used to her advantage and when her family lost all their wealth, when she was fourteen, she left them and married off to a young lord. Although, it was uncommon at the time, she had a string of husbands. Her husbands all died after about a half a year into the marriage, leaving her with money that she squandered away on maintaining her appearance.

"She was always able to easily attract men, she stole husbands from their wives and tore multiple couples apart. She was captured in one village and proclaimed a witch or enchantress of sorts. She was to be burned at the stake but saved at the last minute by a sweeper. And as the past stories have gone, she made a deal with the Epistle and became a sin."

His eyes were heavy with thought. Pride, Envy, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony and now Lust.

'The only sin left is Wrath, his sin.' Rukia reached out her hand to place it over his. The next few minutes passed in silence until Ichigo wrote something on the paper, the scratching of the pencil breaking the quiet.

Ichigo Kurosaki

"Wrath," Rukia whispered. He wrote Wrath next to his name.

"Wrath, rage, strong feelings of hatred and anger. The desire to seek revenge and the wish to cause evil or harm towards others. Wrath covers assault, torture, murder and genocide."

He paused, as if on the brink of a very dark precipice. "When I was seventeen, in Italy, my mother was murdered. My father chose not to do anything about it, so on his lack of action I decided to take matters into my own hands."

His voice was hollow as he spoke, devoid of emotion. "I began to hunt down the man that had killed my mother. Revenge became my sole purpose in life. I left my family and cut off all connections I had with anyone else. After months of searching I found a trail. I tortured who I could for answers and killed those I couldn't. And when I found that man, oh, did I make him sorry for what he had done."

His eyes held his pain that he was trying to hide in his words as he gripped Rukia's hand.

"It turns out the man had family of his own. He was a loving father by day and a serial killer by night. I found their house and that night I paid him a visit. I made him confess in front of his own family what he had done, all the people he had killed. His wife and daughter, I murdered while he sat tied upright in a chair, forced to watch. I ruined his life just as he had ruined mine.

"I prolonged his death, making him sit there and stare at the bodies of his beloved ones for days, while I merely watched, taunting him. I barely kept him alive, only giving him water and never allowing him to sleep or move from the chair. After a week without food or proper sleep, I cut him free and beat the hell out of him. I made it a point, for him to realize just who I was before I killed him. He died apologizing to me for killing my mother."

His body shook and he clamped his eyes shut, not releasing his hold on Rukia's hand. She reached out with her free hand and placed it on his cheek.

"Ichigo …"

"I was approached by a sweeper and became Wrath. I became a Sin, because I felt guilty. I thought I would be able to ease my Sins and learn to truly forgive that man and myself for our previous wrongdoings. I have forgiven him, but I cannot yet forgive myself."

"Why?"

"What I did, isn't forgivable, so instead of lessening my own Sin, I prevent others from making the same mistakes as I have."

Rukia watched him in his grief and didn't know what to do. He had dwelled over this matter for hundreds of years and still hadn't found peace. She momentarily hesitated, but got to her knees, scooting over to cautiously wrap her arms around him.

He seemed a bit surprised at first but leaned closer to her to rest his head against her chest. She held his head, running her fingers through his soft locks.

What could she say, what could she possibly say to ease his years of suffering? She suddenly felt very small, insignificant in his long life and scared by the enormity of it all.

"Ichigo," she whispered. "I-I'd forgive you."

"Thank you my little one."

He nuzzled in closer to her. "You're the only one that has ever said that after hearing my story."

용서

* * *

_Man, I'll definitely be revising/re-editing this chapter, but I'll do it once I feel a bit better._

_Sorry for taking so long with the update._

_-Tres_


	14. Where Have We Met?

_Chapter 14, I thought I would just warn now, that this chapter might end with a very cliffy sentence, don't hate me k?_

_I discovered something: The fool proof way to not cure a headache._

_Find desk, take head and proceed to bash forehead against hard, flat surface until the new throbbing replaces the old pains caused by the headache._

_End results are double pain from a super headache and a lump formed on forehead._

_Definitely not recommendable._

_AvaLuna - Thank you much for the review, and I'll try and smooth everything over with that last chapter now that I'm feeling a bit more level headed :)_

_DeviantHollow23 - Good to see/hear that you seem to be doing good :) your review made me grin like an idiot. Glomping action, always fun but I'm glad that the scenes aren't farfetched and no worries I have lots of other people confused with the whole 'Rukia is a virtue? Yes/no/maybe so' thing. But thank you for the review!  
_

_Yuki no Ryuu - Ryuuki - I'll have to try and figure out a way to put Kaien back in for you, as of yet, I don't have any plans for him, but I'll see what comes up. Thanks for the review :)_

_Anna Haruno - Your review was definitely a spirit booster :) but maybe I'll use your idea and do a side tangent of sorts (or you can if you'd like :) feel free to ask me for help if you decide to) because I already have something halfway written. The forgiveness thing I will explain ... soon I hope. Thanks for the review!_

_Nekura Enzeru - Oops, that was a rather bad jump on my part ... hee hee hee I'll fix that (*puts on to do list). Thank you for the review :)_

_Hatake Tsughi - Don't worry, the Epistle is soon soon soon :) Thanks for the review!_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - I'm glad you thought the sins matched too. IchiRuki I will try and add between the information. I'm glad you liked the ending, that was kinda added last minute on my part. Virtues are chosen by fate, (because I don't have a better answer than that) a sin can live forever, eternity and I wasn't planning on having Shirosaki in this story, but I might be able to think up something for him._

_The song: Baby Baby - Big Bang_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I do not own Bleach an in way, shape or form. (No own BigBang either)_

* * *

희의를 하루에

The day was set, the day she would meet Ichigo's father, the Epistle.

"I'll come to pick you up on Saturday night, around five," Ichigo had said.

"Right," Rukia nodded.

_Right_

Today was Friday and as the day approached, Rukia became less and less sure about her answer. For some reason a sense of dread seemed to hang above the approaching Saturday.

Less than half a day of school left and Rukia, ambled her way out into the courtyard during lunch break.

Rukia took in a deep breath, holding it. 'I just have to get past Saturday, I can do it. No matter what I do, another day will come, after Saturday will come Sunday and then Monday again. Saturday will come to pass no matter what I do.'

She let out her breath, more loudly than she had intended.

"Rukia, are you feeling sick?" Senna ran up to Rukia's side, stopping Rukia's slow walk to press her hand against Rukia's forehead.

"No, just stressed."

Senna looked at Rukia's face a moment longer, before she dragged her over to the lawn and pulled down beside her. "School work?"

"No."

"Troubles at home?"

"No."

"Boy trouble?"

… "Not really."

Senna studied her, "So, it is, kind of. Where is Ichigo by the way?"

"Wh-why would I know?" Rukia stuttered.

"Well, I just have my own secret theory."

"A theory that entails what exactly?"

Senna smiled, "That you and Ichigo are secretly dating."

Rukia blushed, "N-n-no, well, I mean, what makes you think that?"

"Just a conclusion that I came up with from my observations of you two."

"Uh, I'm not-"

"But Rukia, what about Kaien and then there's Orihime who likes Kaien _and_ Ichigo and then there's you who hangs out, a lot, with both of them.'

"That sounds like a bit much, almost like my life is a soap opera," Rukia said weakly.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a drama, you know the love cube, instead of triangle."

"I'm glad my life is so fun for you."

Senna leaned over suddenly wrapping her arms around Rukia, "It will be fine Rukia and whatever happens I'll always have your back. I'm guess I'm okay with losing a guy to you."

Rukia's eyes widened, "Senna what-?"

"Never mind, but I have to run Rukia, see ya later," Senna waved, practically running back to the school.

"Senna, wait, what …" Rukia sighed as Senna disappeared from her view.

"Hey."

Rukia didn't even have to look up to recognize the voice, "Hi, Ichigo." So that was why Senna had bolted, she still didn't want to face Ichigo.

Ichigo stood, watching Senna make her way back to the school

"Rukia!" Rangiku popped into view, jumping out from behind Ichigo

Rukia was smothered as Rangiku pulled her into a hug. "Why so down in the dumps?"

Rukia smiled weakly, "It's nothing, really."

Ichigo turned his gaze to her and leaned in, scrutinizing her, "Are you worried about Saturday?"

Rangiku's face fell slightly at the mention of the upcoming meeting.

Rukia held up her hands, "No, no just a bit preoccupied. Why do you think the Epistle suddenly wants to meet with me?"

Ichigo looked at his sister, who shrugged. He turned back to look at Rukia, "We don't really have any idea why."

"Okay," Rukia slowly nodded, not really helping to ease my nerves. "So, do I need to dress up or anything?"

"Why?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the Epistle sounds like an important person and you know it seems like a special occasion so I just thought -"

"Che, no you could wear your school uniform, he probably won't even care. He takes value in the use of people, not what they wear." He held out his hand, offering it to Rukia, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Rukia nodded, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. He started leading her away from the school, towards the parking lot.

The school is the other way … "Where are we going?"

"I just felt like taking a little break from the whole doom and gloom mood," Ichigo said pulling out his car keys. "We're going to the fair."

"Yay the fair," Rangiku clapped her hands together, "I know you said we were going somewhere but I didn't know it was to the fair!"

"But there isn't even a fair in Karakura right now," Rukia felt like the rain cloud of bad news, but they had to know.

Ichigo didn't seem perturbed by the information in the slightest, "Who said we were going to the fair in Karakura?"

"But, the nearest fair is-"

"We're going to the Pier."

"Wha-" Rukia gaped, "But the fair at the pier is, is, well it's hours away."

"I know," Ichigo shrugged.

"I said hours ya know, those are much longer periods of time than minutes."

"Well thank you my small one, but don't worry that's why we're leaving now and I'm driving."

Rukia gulped, "You're driving?"

"Yeah, problem with that?" he devilishly grinned.

"Wait, wait, wait. We still have class, we can't just skip school," Rukia said, being ignored as Ichigo dragged her out to his black car.

"Oh that," he said like it was a minor detail he had overlooked, "Don't worry, Kenryuu is taking care of everything."

For some reason Rukia didn't find that too reassuring, but made up her mind when she looked at Ichigo. His blond hair, messy as always and the ever present scowl on his brow above his captivating brown eyes. How much longer would she be able to recognize this face?

박람희 여행

"The fair!" Rangiku, had ridden with her and Ichigo, but didn't seem affected by Ichigo's driving as much as Rukia was. Rukia followed her, still catching her breath after having been rushed to her home to grab her stuff, leave Byakuya a note, then shoved back in a car, with a crazy driver that drove way above the speed limit, all the way to the pier. Yes, the stable, non-moving ground had become a lot more alluring by the second.

She followed Ichigo and Rangiku to a small group of people standing near the entrance.

"Momo?"

"Rukia!" Momo happily jumped to her feet, running to hug Rukia.

"What's going on?" Rukia asked, spotting, Hitsugaya behind her.

"We decided to take a little vacation," Momo smiled.

"You and Hitsugaya huh?"

"Well, you and Ichigo and Rangiku and her Virtue of course."

Rukia's ears perked, "Rangiku's Virtue?" She looked over Momo shoulder, spotting Rangiku being hugged by a grinning man with silver hair.

"He's her Virtue?" Rukia asked Momo.

"Yes, the Temperance Virtue, who used to be in the states."

Rukia looked at his face again, had she met him before?

As if sensing Rukia gaze, he let go of Rangiku, striding over to stand before Rukia.

"Hi there Miss Rukia," he grin widened. "Nice to meet ya."

Rukia bowed her head slightly, "Nice to meet you to, uh …"

"Gin Ichimaru, the Temperance Virtue."

Gin Ichimaru. Rukia had seen him before. He had been over at her house before, he was the one that used to come over to speak with her brother. She had always assumed that he was merely the manager of one of her brother's hotel but he was actually a Virtue?!

"Do you know my brother?" she blurted out.

Ichigo stepped closer behind Rukia, viewing Ichimaru with interest. "Really Gin?"

"No, no, what makes ya think that?" Ichimaru said.

"I just thought …"

"Ya must have me mistaken me for someone else, yes?"

"It's possible," Rukia mumbled. No, she had seen him before.

"Well, let's get a move on," Hitsugaya called.

"Right!" Momo happily agreed, running over to follow Hitsugaya into the fair.

Ichigo held Rukia back, lagging behind his family as they walked through the entrance.

"Rukia, did you know Gin already?" he said in a low voice, as his family started to peruse the rides.

"I'm almost a hundred percent certain that I've seen him before. He used to come over and talk with my brother," Rukia nodded.

"I wonder what he's up to," Ichigo gazed at the Ichimaru, standing ahead of them holding Rangiku's hand. "Don't worry about it Rukia, I'll figure it out."

"But-"

"No, don't worry, today's supposed to be a relaxing day remember?"

"But Ichigo-"

"Hey you two," Hitsugaya was eyeing the pair. "What should we do first?"

"Why are you asking us Toshiro?" Ichigo grinned, "Besides, you're probably too short to ride on the same rides as us anyway."

과거의 모임

Rukia sat next to Ichigo on the Ferris wheel as the large contraption turned about in a circle. She stared out the window, gazing into the crowd below.

"Shut up," she heard Ichigo say.

"What are you going to do about it?" his brother replied. Kenzaki, Yoo Hee, Ishida and Yoshino had showed up an hour after the rest, Kenzaki immediately taking Ichigo to a booth to have a shooting contest. Somehow she had ended up in the Ferris wheel box with Ichigo, Kenzaki and Yoo Hee.

"You didn't win," Ichigo sighed, "That last shot was just a near miss."

"Come on you two just drop it," Yoo Hee weakly said.

"No, according to the vendor I won," Kenzaki gloated.

"The vendor?" Ichigo scoffed.

"Yeah, in situations like those, he's like the referee."

"What kind of full of crap rule is that?"

Rukia scanned the ground below, she had the strangest feeling she was being watched. An evil grin that made her sick.

A large crowd had formed below, as more and more people arrived at the fair. People formed groups and lines, waiting to get onto rides and standing around chatting with friends. But there remained a heavy gaze.

Nnoitra Jiruga stared up at her from beside a booth, less than ten feet away from the base of the Ferris wheel. Rukia lurched backwards in her seat, running into Ichigo.

"Hey Rukia, what's wrong," Ichigo grabbed her upper arms from behind. "Rukia?"

"I saw, I just saw down there, I saw him, he's following us."

"Who?" Ichigo squeezed her arms.

... "Nnoitra."

"Nnoitra?" Ichigo and Kenzaki rushed to the window Rukia had been looking out, rocking the small Ferris wheel box.

"Where?"

"By that booth, the one with the large curtain on the side, he was staring up at us," Rukia weakly said, holding a hand above her furiously beating heart.

Rukia didn't know what is was, but something about that man made her brain scream out in panic. She had encountered him before, many years before she had met Ichigo. He had a connection with a negative memory from her past. Something in her mind was stopping her from being able to pull the recollection from her subconscious into her consciousness.

Why did he cause her this gut clenching, heart racing panic?

"Rukia," Yoo Hee pulled Rukia over to the seat next to hers, rubbing her hand on her back.

"Nnoitra," Kenzaki pulled away from the window, taking up the seat Ichigo had been in. "He's still around here then huh?"

"You know who he is?" Ichigo shot his brother a look.

"Yes," Kenzaki rubbed his forehead, "he's a renegade sweeper. He hasn't reported back to the Epistle ever since his contract ended around ten years ago."

"A sweeper?" Ichigo took Yoo Hee's spot and pulled Rukia up against his side. "From how long ago?"

Kenzaki pondered the question momentarily, "I think his service started around fifty years ago."

"Fifty? He doesn't even look that old."

"He isn't, he's immortal remember," Kenzaki said.

"He's immortal? But he didn't report back to renew his contract."

"Sweepers can technically live forever if they don't end their contract with the Epistle," Yoo Hee said. "He may not have renewed his contract but technically he's still under his old contract."

"But why hasn't he been killed yet?"

"The Epistle is not able to end the contract merely by himself," Kenzaki sat down, uneasily glancing out the window. "When a sweeper is released, his or her memories are erased by the Epistle himself. To free them from their contracts, the Epistle has to meet with the sweeper in person."

"But no one ever remembers meeting the Epistle in the first place because their memory is erased, so technically only around ten people know who the Epistle really is," Yoo Hee said.

"But what happened, why is Nnoitra still under contract?" Rukia gazed up at Ichigo.

Kenzaki sighed, "Part of the deal the sweepers make with the Epistle is to report to Mother when their contract is about to end. Failure to do so results in termination of their lives."

"You kill them?" Rukia said, her voice barely audible.

"The Epistle has no use for servants that won't follow orders," Yoo Hee said.

"But Nnoitra."

"That means he must have avoided or killed whoever was sent to assassinate him," Kenzaki said, his brow furrowed.

"He killed another sweeper?" Ichigo said. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"The Epistle must not have wanted you to know," Kenzaki said. "Nnoitra was made a sweeper to serve worldwide. He traveled a lot and I guess your paths just never crossed. You had enough on your plate, without having to worry about Nnoitra too."

The Ferris wheel came to a halt and Ichigo pushed Rukia in Yoo Hee's direction, "Take care of her, " he yelled over his shoulder as he and Kenzaki bolted from the Ferris wheel box and took off in the direction Nnoitra had been.

"Come on," Yoo Hee, led Rukia away from the Ferris wheel, "We need to find a Sin. If that really was Nnoitra you saw, I will not be able to defend you alone."

Rukia followed after her, "Is he after me?"

"We're not sure, but to be on the safe side, the more of my family we have with us the better. We don't need to worry about Kenzaki and Ichigo."

Rukia was still worried, and felt a sense of fear grip her stomach. She knew that man but why was he following them? What did she have to do with a have a sweeper?

"Yoo Hee, where are Wrath and Sloth?" Hitsugaya asked, spying only Rukia with his sister.

"Rukia saw Nnoitra and they went to look for him."

"Nnoitra?" Hitsugaya pulled out his phone. "Wait here, I'll send Matsumoto over."

He disappeared into a crowd, his cell phone against his ear.

"What's going on?" Momo said wide-eyed.

"Don't worry," Yoo Hee took the hands of both the girls and pulled them into a large crowd that stood watching the small play. "Let Hitsugaya take care of it."

They spotted Rangiku and waved to her, "Hey is everyone okay?" she asked, pushing her way through the crowd towards them.

"Fine," Yoo Hee nodded, "I just thought it best we stay hidden."

"Where are Ichigo and Kenryuu?" Ichimaru appeared by their sides.

"Looking for Nnoitra," Yoo Hee said, trying to keep the surrounding crowd out of their conversation.

"So, the rumors about spotting him were true," Ichimaru looked to his Sin.

"Hitsugaya did say that Ichigo reported seeing him at his house a few days ago," Rangiku said. "We looked at the security footage, but on that day for some reason, a large chunk of the tape was just blackness."

"But there's no way he could have …"

"It's possible, we don't know what he's learned. He's been adapting to the changes over years just like us. It's possible ..."

Rukia felt dread, just whom were they dealing with here? This man, how had he evaded Ichigo's family and all of their connections for years on end?

"Why hasn't this been taken care of yet?" Yoo Hee asked.

"We don't know," Rangiku shook her head. "He's been on the lose now for years. I had heard mentions of a sweeper that had abandoned the family but I merely assumed that he had been taken care of already."

"Did he even ever serve any time as a sweeper?"

"I think," Ichimaru replied, "He did serve for faithfully for 'bout forty years or so, but then one year, the man just didn' report in."

"I still don't know why the Epistle hasn't killed him yet," Yoo Hee said.

Rangiku shrugged, "The Epistle most likely passed the responsibility onto someone else, then never even bothered to check in on it. He has is own share of worries so, he doesn't have time to personally tie up the lose ends."

"But Nnoitra'll most likely be offed soon," Gin mused, "He probably has the Epistle's attention now and it's likely that Wrath'll be wanting to get his hands on him."

Ichigo, wouldn't do anything like that right? Where was Ichigo? She really wanted to be with Ichigo right now.

Rangiku's hand shot to her cell phone. "Hello?" She paused momentarily, listening to whoever it was on the other end. She nodded her head, "Alright, I understand."

She looked at the other four, "Let's go."

관람차

"Rukia," Ichigo grabbed her as soon as he spotted her, as he stood near the entrance of the fair. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Rukia said, her body still trembling from earlier.

He put his hands on either side of her face, studying her eyes. "I'm sorry, you never would have had to deal with that creep if it wasn't for me."

"N-no Ichigo I'm fine, I promise but did you find him?"

Ichigo's eyes darkened, "No, but a vendor confirmed seeing a man that matched Nnoitra's description near his booth not five minutes before we got there."

So, he had been there tonight.

He took her hand, pulling her out into the parking lot, "We need to get out of here." He led her to his car and opened the passenger side door. "So much for our care free fun."

Rukia got into the passenger's seat, still holding onto Ichigo's hand. "Don't worry Rukia," he squeezed her hand, "I'm right here," he pulled his hand from hers and shut the door. He ran around to the driver's side door and got in.

"Wait," Rangiku ran towards them waving her hand. She and Ichimaru got into the back seat. "We're going with you."

"Why?"

"Just trust us," Ichimaru said. "It's the best for little Rukia."

"Fine, just buckle up," Ichigo started the car and punched the gas. He reached over, taking Rukia's hand back into his.

새로운 신뢰를

"No," Rukia shook her head, standing in the elevator next to Ichigo, Rangiku and Ichimaru. They had all insisted in accompanying her into the hotel and taking her to her room. Ichigo was especially keen to go with her, saying that he had something to personally discuss with her brother.

Rukia sighed, "There's no way my brother will let you spend the night Ichigo."

"He's going to let me or else," Ichigo growled.

"What about Rangiku?" Rukia asked, "He's more likely to let her stay."

"She can stay but I want to stay too."

"He'll kill you even for asking."

"He can try."

The elevator dinged and the door slid open. Rukia exited, the other three following behind her. "Ichigo-"

"No, it's for the best Rukia, I don't want to leave you alone until he is caught." She didn't even have to ask who 'he' was. The mere thought of the man made her skin crawl.

She opened her front door, leading them inside. "I don't even know if my brother's home."

"Then we'll call him."

"Rukia," a voice called. Nope, her brother was home. He was there to kill Ichigo in person when the idiot asked to spend the night. "I got your note but I thought I told you I would prefer that you stay away from that boy."

"Brother, well you see um."

Byakuya sat at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in front of him. He surveyed the group with Rukia, she could've sworn she saw a flash of recognition cross his face as his eyes glanced over Ichimaru.

But there was no mistaking it, there was definite recognition there as he glared at Ichigo.

"Yo Byakuya right? I have a question," Ichigo stepped in front of Rukia.

Her brother glared, "Do you not know anything about proper titles?"

"I want to spend the night here, with Rukia."

"You have no right to refer to me by my first name."

"I promise my intentions are not bad and I can have my sister stay too, so she can watch over us."

"Insolent child, never taught manners."

Rukia turned her head back and forth between the two. Were these two even in the same conversation?

"Hey Rukia," Ichimaru clapped a hand on her shoulder and he leaned his head closer to her ear. "Just go to your room and collect your stuff. Matsumoto and I will convince your brother."

"Are you sure?" Rukia whispered.

"Yes, just go wait in your room" he reached out and pulled Ichigo backwards by his ear, "Take him with you."

설득력있는

Somehow Ichimaru had been able to get Byakuya to let Rangiku stay the night with Rukia, despite her brother's dislike of Ichigo and anyone with relations to him. Rangiku only, Ichigo was a no go. Ichigo fumed and stormed about, but was dragged out Rukia's front door by a grinning Ichimaru. Ichigo had run back in to hug Rukia and try and kiss her, before her brother had taken him by the scruff of his neck and thrown him out the front door.

"Will Ichigo be okay?" Rukia sat on her bed, Rangiku lying down next to her.

"Yeah, he's immortal remember?"

"You all say that."

Rangiku smiled, she placed a hand on Rukia's shoulder, "Are you still worried about Nnoitra?"

Rukia nodded, the name made her fingers unconsciously curl. "I swear I've seen him before."

Rangiku looked worried, "You have? Another time, besides when you saw him at the condo?"

"Yes, I know I've seen him before, many, many years ago."

"Did you tell Ichigo?"

Rukia shook her head, "I thought he might do something rash if I did."

"Good call, it's probably best didn't tell him. He tends to let his temper get the better of him. But do you know why you recognized Nnoitra?"

"I don't remember exactly, but I know that I have seen him somewhere before," Rukia bit her lip, "I'm so close to remembering, like it's just on the edge of my consciousness."

Rangiku stared at her, "Let me know if you remember okay?"

Rukia nodded, "You won't tell Ichigo?"

"No and if he suspects anything you can just divert his attention. Merely take his head and squeeze it between your breasts, that should distract him."

"Wh-what?! I-I-I really can't do th-that!"

산만

Saturday morning, it took Rukia awhile after she had woken up to remember why she felt a huge weight on her shoulders. Nnoitra one day and the Epistle the next, life had suddenly become more complicated, if only just a bit.

"Come on Rukia," Rangiku was amazingly already up and looking ready to meet the day.

"I really don't want to."

Rangiku grabbed the covers, waving them furiously above Rukia's head "Up, up, come on. Ichigo has been calling me so much I think my phone broke. Why isn't yours ringing off the hook?"

Rukia dragged herself out of bed, "I turned it off."

"Oooh, I bet he's going to be pissed about that."

Rukia got dressed with help/hindrance from Rangiku and made her way down to the kitchen, Rangiku bouncing along beside her.

"You have any milk," Rangiku asked as Rukia sat down on a stool near the counter.

Rukia pointed to the fridge, "There should be a carton on the top shelf."

"Rukia what's this?" Rangiku stood near the fridge, pointing to a note taped to the door.

"It's probably from my brother, can you read it to me?"

"Sure," Rangiku pulled the note from the door. "Dear Rukia, I will be out of town for a bit but will return home sometime in the afternoon tomorrow. Nemu went on a trip and won't be in again till Tuesday. Be safe, Byakuya."

Rukia raised an eyebrow, "That's it?"

"Oh wait, there's a p.s.," Rangiku said, "Tell Ichigo Kurosaki if he steps one foot into our house I will hunt him down, pull out all the hairs of his atrocious hair and then jam the whole mess down his throat."

…

"I see," Rukia said.

"Your brother is really charming," Rangiku set down the note in front of Rukia. "But I take it you didn't tell him that you're going to be going over to our house tonight, right?"

"Right," Rukia nodded, glancing at the clock, "Less than six hours away."

내일에 대한 두려움

Nervous couldn't even begin to explain the feeling Rukia felt as she sat in Ichigo's living room. He had picked her and Rangiku up,a quarter till five, taking them to the white house out in the middle of nowhere.

"We'll wait until we're called," Ichigo sat down next to Rukia on the couch, tense but keeping and outward appearance of calm. Rangiku had disappeared somewhere else into the house.

"Are you okay?" Ichigo reached out to rest his hand on her cheek.

Rukia nodded, her voice stuck in her throat.

"I wonder, if you really are?" he murmured, as if merely speaking his mind aloud.

Rukia glanced at his wrist, his tattoo was covered by a watch today. "Wrath," she whispered.

"Hmm," he turned his head towards her, "Did you say something."

"Your sin, about your past," she said recalling when he had told her his families past. "You said no one has ever forgiven you before, for your sin. Not even you own Virtues forgave you?"

He frowned, "No some of my past Virtues have said they would forgive me."

"Then .."

"They may have said the words, but there was no meaning behind them. They were merely said as words of comfort, not of forgiveness."

He leaned in his face closer to hers, hesitating slightly before he lightly placed a kiss on her lips. "Something in your words, your voice, made me believe that you actually meant what you said."

Rukia stared into his brown eyes, he may say her words hold special meaning to him, but if that was true, why was that look back? He looked guilty, like he had done something wrong.

She pulled away from him, "Why do you always look so guilty after you kiss me?" she murmured.

He looked away, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I have a feeling that our reasons for feeling guilty are the same Ichigo," said Rukia. "Why you always look guilty, is because I'm not your Virtue."

"Rukia…"

"I'm right aren't I? So, why do you spend time with me?"

He ruffled his hair, the discomfort plain on his face. "Yes you aren't my Virtue, but, but that doesn't matter to me."

"It should, you can't be with anyone but your Virtue."

"No one has ever tried. But now, even if I were to meet my real Virtue, I-I would choose you over her."

Rukia's eyes widened, "Can you even do that?"

"I don't know, it's never been done, but there still is the possibility that you are indeed my Virtue but you just haven't shown yourself yet."

"You shouldn't take a chance like that."

"I mean it, I would suffer through the pain of absorbing demons for the rest of my life, for forever." His eyes locked on hers and held her gaze.

"Ichigo-"

"You two," Aizen had appeared, his voice making Rukia jump, "The Epistle wants to see you now."

Ichigo gave Rukia a look and got to his feet, clearing his throat slightly as he reached out to clasp Rukia's hand. "F-fine."

They walked into the door Aizen held open for them, he lightly patted Rukia on the shoulder. "Good luck," he shut the door behind them, leaving them alone in a large room

없슴니다

The room was completely silent, the only sound was the steps of their feet as she walked forward, Ichigo following close behind her. The pillars on either side of the walk way, cast luminous shadows, creating eerie figures. At the end of the room, what appeared to be the final goal, was a raised platform.

She was supposed to meet with the Epistle here?

"Rukia Kuchiki?"

Rukia nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice and whipped her head, searching for the source.

Urahara? Was he the …

"How are you doing?"

"F-fine, I was told to come today to meet with the Epistle and this is the room Aizen sent me too," Rukia managed to say before Ichigo lunged towards Urahara, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

"Urahara you bastard, what is going on, why are you here?" he practically yelled.

"Ow, Ichigo," Urahara managed to free himself from Ichigo's clutches, "Just be patient, you'll see, there's a very important reason the Epistle wants to meet with Rukia."

"So, you're not the Epistle," Rukia decided to clear up the issue.

"No, I am not."

He strode past Rukia, Ichigo cautiously watching the man, as he went by her, going to sit on the edge of the platform.

"Ah yes the Epistle. Tell me what do you know about the Epistle?" Urahara said, looking at Rukia.

"Not much, really … I mean I don't really know anything of great importance. I know that he's in charge of the Sins and sweepers and can detect the Virtues."

"The man's a bastard," Ichigo said.

Urahara ignored Ichigo and examined Rukia's face, probing into her eyes with his own. "Do you know anything of how the Epistle is chosen?"

'How the Epistle is chosen? … Wait, what?'

"What … are you talking about?" Ichigo said, in an amazingly calm voice, despite the shock from the implications of the question.

Rukia's forehead creased, "What? I thought that there's only ever been one Epistle."

"Such is the lie we uphold," Urahara said. "There has actually been more than one Epistle. The Epistle has only changed once though due to the very strict requirements."

"Requirements? What kind of requirements?" Ichigo interjected.

"The Epistle is, and only can be, a previous Virtue. In our history how many times has a Sin changed?"

Rukia recalled her previous talks with Ichigo. "Three, I think."

"Correct, two sins were killed and one was pardoned. Do you know why the previous Greed was pardoned?" he seemed to be getting closer to the true identity of the Epistle and his body tensed in anticipation of revealing the identity one of the most secretive members of their family.

Rukia glanced at him, unsure, why would she know why a Sin is pardoned, especially if Ichigo himself didn't even know? "No, I have no idea."

"Urahara," Ichigo's anger was beginning to bristle once again, "What is going on, why are you asking us this?"

Urahara again ignored Ichigo, proceeding on with his own train of thought, "I was pardoned because my Virtue became the Epistle and then in turn pardoned me from my duties as a sin."

He was quiet as he let the words sink in.

Rukia looked at him, her eyes immediately darting to his right wrist. "You're the one that used to represent Greed?"

"You used to be a Sin?" Ichigo hadn't been expecting that.

He nodded, "Yes, I use to have the position Shuuhei now has."

Something still didn't quite fit and Rukia stared at the man, transfixed as her mind sifted through the information, trying to find the snag in his story.

"Wait, your Virtue became the Epistle," she said.

Ichigo caught on, "but the Epistle is a man …"

The side of Urahara's mouth crept up into a small smile, "Or so everyone thinks."

Her eyes widened, "So, does that mean the Epistle is actually a woman?!"

The door behind her slammed, and Rukia turned her head, staring at the figure that strode down the center of the room towards them.

"Rukia."

Eyes widened in recognition as Rukia stared at the person now in front of her. "W-what are you doing here?" her own voice almost catching in her throat from shock, "Soi Fon?"

서간

* * *

_I did revise the last chapter, but there really isn't anything new going on in it._

_I hope this chapter wasn't too long._


	15. Why Do You Need Me?

_Okey, chapter 15, a bit on the shorter side compared to the recent chapters, but I really wanted to end it where it ends (yes, I know that sentence doesn't make a bit of sense)_

_I messed up for some reason on my chapter naming on the last chapter, but it should be fixed now . . ._

_Soooooo, some of you are totally gonna hate me because:_

_The implications of the last sentence in the last chapter (About Soi Fon appearing) may or may not be true . . . _

_Um and because this chapter kinda ends in a cliff too . . . okay, no point beating around the bush, this chapter's ending is cliffy!!!_

_But I think this chapter is pretty goooood, especially the last sentence._

_Enjoys!_

_Nekura__Enzeru__ - The whole __Soi__Fon__ and __Yoruichi__ thing is totally talked about in this chapter, no worries but thanks for the review :)_

_Llyssa__-maiden - Your surprise may not ha__ve__ been warranted, but you'll see. Thank you for the review!_

_Allyieh__ - I'm glad you didn't think the chapter was too long :) and yes, __Rukia__ already know __Soi__Fon__, they did swim team together. Thanks for the review!_

_Hatake __Tsughi__ - Ah don't get mad at me, don't worry I'll make it up to you in this chapter and your __fangirl__ scream, very funny :). Thank you for the review!_

_Anna __Haruno__ - __Okey__, I think I'll start at the bottom first, let's see, I'm going to ha__ve__ to with no on the Virtue immortality thing. There is a way to prolong their life (explained in this chapter) but they can't li__ve__ forever. __Ichimaru__ and __Byakuya__ will be talked about later and their connection revealed. __Byakuya__ just doesn't like __Ichigo__ because __Ichigo__ is so "rebellious" type of attitude, that doesn't sit well with __Byakuya's__ proper nature. __Nnoitra__ does ha__ve__ something to do with __Rukia's__ family . . . and that's all I'll say on that matter. The Virtue has no control over when they decided to show themselves, some just don't reveal themselves until they are 21. __Rukia__ just doesn't remember meeting __Nnoitra__ because of another reason . . . that I will totally talk about later, but if I even mention part of it, it will totally be ruined. I enjoy making __Ichigo__ ha__ve__ sweet moments too! And one of your ideas about __Soi__Fon__ is correct, and it's in this chapter that you'll learn a bit more about __Soi__Fon__. I think that's it, phew, thanks for the very in depth review :)_

_Yuki no Ryuu - Ryuuki - Hmmm, I will definitely be working on a Kaien part, but I already had a rather large shocking person working for Nnoitra ... I'll keep my thinking cap on. Thanks for the ideas and the review!_

_xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx - Man, for some reason it took me a long time to type your screen name ... The __x's__, it was the __x's__. Messed up but good? Over all that's a good thing right :) but thanks you for the review and I hope my writing is able to help you along with yours._

_Kini6625 - I felt bad about the cliff, but I hope you don't hate me for a certain part coming up in this chapter, having to do with the __UraharaxSoi__Fon__ thing. You'll see, thanks for the review too :)_

_MaRuune__ - Fi__ve__ HOURS!?!?! That's dedication, I don't think I could ever read my own story non-stop because some of the chapters are __looong__ and I get distracted easily (by random random things). Suspense, yes I did notice I keep putting in more like stuff, but I hope it's a good thing. Glad you like it, and I hope your eyes are feeling okay. Thank you for the Review!_

_Sim-Chan - Technically, the past virtues are/might be *cough*cough* __Rukia__ but truthfully there is only one and only __Rukia__, so I wanted their pairing to be special. But there will be an opportunity for them to be together longer ... that should be talked about it this chapter, or at least mentioned. Thanks for the review :)_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Okey, lots of questions, 1st Soi Fon, is really old, the second oldest person is the story and as to why she's the Epistle ... you'll just have to read this chapter to find out. Nnoitra, will be the main antagonist in this story. If you choose someone that's not your Epistle? I would have to say that it would break the reincarnation process of the original virtue and the sin would have to absorb demons instead of the virtue purifying them. Um I'll wait with that Rukia/Ichigo Virtue/Sin thing. Ichimaru will be talked about later (Sorry) and no problem with understanding anything, it was all good. Thank you for the review!_

_Song: Umbrella - Marie Digby_

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Bleach/Bleach Characters. (Or Ms. Digby)

* * *

진실을 밝혀

Soi Fon slowly strolled up to Rukia and Ichigo, stopping less than a foot from Rukia and leaning down to look her in the eye.

"What do you mean Rukia?" she said, her voice steely. This was not Soi Fon that she had gone to school with, her buddy from the swim team, no; the ambiance surrounding her was cold and biting.

"Are you really Soi Fon?" Rukia said, her voice barely audible.

"Yes and no," the taller girl pulled away, going over to stand by Urahara. "I am Soi Fon, yes, that is the name I now use, but I'm not the Soi Fon that you knew."

Ichigo glared at Soi Fon, cautiously reaching out to grasp Rukia's hand and pull her closer to his side.

'Soi Fon?' Rukia stared at the familiar face of the person she thought she had known, the question hesitant on her lips. "Then," she paused looking into the other girl's steel grey eyes, "are you the Epistle?"

…

Soi Fon smirked, letting out a light chuckle. "No."

Ichigo sounded angry, "No, what the hell? If you two aren't the Epistle, then who the hell is?"

"That would be me," a new voice, one Rukia was sure she had never heard before. A tall, dark skinned woman appeared from behind one of the pillars. With feline like grace she paced to the center of the room. "Nice to meet you Rukia Kuchiki, how are you?"

Something about the woman made Rukia wary, every cell of her being called for caution.

Why did this woman seem so dangerous? Rukia had always sensed a slight difference between the Sins and normal humans, but this woman's presence screamed out atypical despite her normal human appearance.

She felt Ichigo tense beside her and pull Rukia slightly behind him, placing himself between Rukia and the woman.

The dark skinned woman smiled at Ichigo's actions, "Well, aren't you going to answer me?" she asked, directing her question at Rukia.

Rukia looked bewildered and forced her tight throat to swallow, "Answer you?"

"I asked how you were."

Oh, right, that. The simple question had been loss in the rapid inner thoughts Rukia had experienced upon seeing the lady. "I'm fine."

"Good," the woman said, flipping her long purple hair behind her. "It's nice to finally be able to talk to you face to face Rukia, my name is Yoruichi Shihoin, better known as the Epistle or the family's father," she smiled a bit at the last name.

Ichigo surveyed Yoruichi, "Are you really the Epistle?" he asked, voicing the question that had been burning in Rukia's mind.

"How rude," Soi Fon snapped, "How dare you doubt the Epistle-"

"Soi Fon, enough," Yoruichi held up her hand, "They have every reason to doubt my authenticity, after all, our family has a large part of our lives based on lies."

Soi Fon shot Ichigo a dirty look, and Rukia unconsciously flinched. Her teammate and friend from swimming, who was she really?

"Yes," Yoruichi recaptured Rukia's attention, "Yes, I am indeed the Epistle. I know you were expecting a man, since they all refer to me as father but I am indeed female. You can check if you'd like."

Rukia looked at her, floored by the suggestion, _'Was she serious or is this a trick and what kind of trick was it …'_

"What the hell?" she heard Ichigo say under his breath.

"The original Epistle was male," Yoruichi continued, oblivious to Rukia's growing discomfort. "So, to hide from the Sins that the Epistle had changed, we stayed with the 'father' front."

Rukia slowly nodded, _'So, could she really be sure that she was the Epistle then?'_

"You're still doubting aren't you," Yoruichi mused, making Rukia jump. Ichigo's grip tightened on her hand and he rubbed his thumb in small circles across the back of her hand, in a comforting manner.

"I don't know if you really are the Epistle or not, because for some reason, I still have never met my so called adoptive 'father' in the five hundred years since I became a Sin," Ichigo said in a bitter voice.

"Doubt is fine," Yoruichi nodded, "I was just as doubtful when the original Epistle revealed himself to me, but nonetheless I was the one that was chosen to become the new Epistle."

"When did, when did the Epistle change?" Ichigo asked.

"You're such a stupid boy," Soi Fon said.

"What was that?"

"Since Yoruichi was Urahara's Virtue," Soi Fon pointed at Yoruichi, then Urahara. "and Urahara is the only sin that's ever been pardoned, then obviously she became Epistle around the same time Urahara was pardoned. All before you became a Sin."

"That doesn't answer my question," Ichigo snapped.

"Oh, I don't know the exact time," Yoruichi shrugged, "Let's just estimate over seven hundred years ago."

Rukia stared at her, still transfixed by the woman. _'Estimate? Why does she act so care-free yet is still able to cause me these feelings of unease?'_

"Why?" Ichigo asked, his voice losing some of its previously held edge, "Why did you lie to me? To all the Sins?"

Yoruichi's eyes softened, as she looked at Ichigo. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Ichigo looked at Yoruichi.

"Don't make me say it again, you thrice damned idiot. I said I was sorry, but it was for the best. The demons only seek the out the Sins because they cannot find me. So, the only option left to the demons, is to seek me out through the Sins. My Sins, that each contain a part of my soul we cannot hide the presence of."

"The only reason the demons attack us," Ichigo sounded unsure, "is because the part of your soul inside our bodies, protecting our own soul from being overtaken," he paused, choosing his words, "alerts the demons to our location?"

"Yes, more or less, plus all the Sins are very good looking …" Yoruichi reflected.

"Now, now Yoruichi, we both know that's not the real reason the demons hunt your family, besides Ichigo isn't good looking at all," Urahara pulled his hat down further over his eyes.

Ichigo was so immersed in his own thought that it didn't appear as if he had heard Urahara's comment.

"The demons do not seek to possess the Sins, but to actually possess the Epistle," Soi Fon said. "Because through possessing the Epistle they are able to break all of the Sin's and Virtue's powers."

"Without an Epistle the demons would have complete and free reign," Urahara said, as if he was merely musing over the thought.

Ichigo studied Yoruichi, "Why can't the demons sense your soul then? Doesn't part of your soul still reside in your body?"

"Yes, part of my soul is still with me," Yoruichi placed a hand over her heart. "But it cannot be sensed."

"Why?"

She eyed them, making eye contact with both, before she sighed and reached down with her left arm, gripping the end of the long sleeve on her right arm. Yoruichi pulled up her sleeve revealing an intricate series of symbols inked onto her skin.

'_Another tattoo?' _A flowing of curves and lines covered her arm, the main bulk of the marking being from mid bicep down to mid forearm, with one long line arching out gracefully to curl around her wrist.

"What, what is all that?" Rukia finally spoke.

"It's a seal," Yoruichi said. "It's seals the presence of my soul from demons. It appeared when I became the Epistle much like the tattoos appear when Sins are chosen or Virtues appear."

Rukia examined the tattoo again, realizing there were words present in the intricate black inked design. '_Words in Latin? The names of the Virtues and Sins.'_

"This is how I am able to sense Sins and Virtues," Yoruichi said, noticing that Rukia was studying her arm. "Do you notice any names missing?"

"Names?" Ichigo asked, peering again at the tattoo.

"Yes," Yoruichi pointed to three open spots on her arm. "The missing Virtues are not on here because they have yet to show themselves. When they appear our connection forms."

"Is that also how you find demons?" Rukia asked.

"I don't," Yoruichi pointed to Soi Fon, "She does."

_'Soi Fon ... finds demons? How, how is that even possible? I went to school with Soi Fon for years, heck she's even spent the night at my house so when-" _Her thoughts were interrupted as Ichigo yelled out.

"Mother does?" a startled Ichigo said.

'_Mother, hmm, mother, WAIT Mother?!'_

Rukia's eyes widened and she looked from Ichigo to Soi Fon. "She's your mother," Rukia hissed under her breath up at Ichigo.

"Yes, well kind of," he looked down to Rukia. "Our adoptive mother."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was important."

"Really now?"

"Ok, actually I forgot," he ruffled his hair with his free hand.

Rukia's feeling of relative ease returned as she bickered with Ichigo, forgetting that the other three were watching them.

"How could you forget Ichigo, you saw her almost everyday at school?"

"I don't know, I just forgot, and she doesn't like us referring to her as 'mother in public. And I hardly ever see her, only when a Virtue appears, and that's not often, plus, I'm already different enough as it is. When I first met you, what would you have thought of me if I had turned to Soi Fon and said, 'Oh, by the way meet my mother.' You would've thought I was crazy."

"I still do, besides how can she even pass as your mother, she looks to be only a few years older than you," Rukia pointed a finger at Soi Fon.

"I don't know, that's just what she introduced herself as. I didn't choose her and it's not like I would have either, she's a freaking crazy, violent-"

"Ichigo!" The said blond head was almost knocked unconscious as a kick board, from out of nowhere bounced off his head. Soi Fon had regained the attention of the bickering couple.

'_Where did that kick board even come from?'_

"Ouch you crazy-"

"Shut up Wrath!"

"Yes, shut up Ichigo," Urahara said, adding fuel to the fire.

"Enough, all of you," Yoruichi said quietly but still causing the room to quiet. "I swear, the real reason I stay hidden is to avoid all of your stupid antics."

"But Yoruichi," Soi Fon whined.

Yoruichi rubbed her brow, looking at Rukia, "As I was saying Soi Fon is able to detect demons. You could say she's my opposite. She's also the mother figure of our family."

Ichigo looked back between Soi Fon and Yoruichi, "But you're a girl and she's a girl, sooo why are you two …"

"It's not like we're actually married or lovers idiot," Soi Fon held up a fist. "I was chosen because of my exceptional skills."

"And we just kept her because she was the partner of the Original Epistle," Urahara added. "Plus, she helps keep up the façade of the Epistle being a man."

'_So, Soi Fon knew the first Epistle? The original Epistle, even more of a mystery...'_

"So, why can she detect demons?" Ichigo asked.

"Actually …" Urahara held up his index finger, taking in a deep breath, "... we have no idea. She just can. It was most likely an ability bestowed upon her by the first Epistle. It may be similar to the ability of the Sins to materialize swords, an ability made possible by the tattoos."

'_Just why did the Epistle change …'_

"She has a tattoo?" Ichigo scanned Soi Fon.

"Ichigo you pervert, why do you want to know?"

"Shut up Urahara. I've been on swim team with her and she doesn't have a tattoo like the Epistle, not one on her wrist and not on her hands anywhere."

'_What happened, was the original Epistle killed_?'

"So, you've been checking out your supposed mother while she was in a swimsuit? Ichigo, it just keeps getting worse."

"Urahara …"

"Both of you idiots stop being so perverted," Soi Fon slightly lifted her shirt, revealing a black mark on her hip. "It's right here you stupids."

_Dante_, in a black font, no wonder Rukia had never seen it before. "Why was Soi Fon even at school? I mean, she's gone to school with me for years, so why ..."

"Ah, she's been on a long-term assignment of great importance, something that we needed to make sure was safe," Yoruichi said.

"Something?"

"Actually a someone," Urahara nodded, "But we can't tell you."

Rukia felt taken aback, "Really?"

"No, I kid, I kid," Urahara grinned, pulling a fan from his sleeve and opening it to hide his smile.

"Urahara, you bastard, that wasn't even funny!" Ichigo made his way to Urahara, dragging Rukia with him.

"Oh my, I've made Wrath angry?"

"Shut up you greedy old man?"

"I'm old, what about you?"

"You're still older!"

"Rukia," Yoruichi had somehow managed to get less than a foot away from Rukia, her voice's sudden proximity making her jump. "I'm guessing you have a different question, I can see it in your eyes."

"Oi," Ichigo turned, putting himself between Yoruichi and Rukia again.

"Ichigo, it's fine," Rukia boldly said, placing her free hand on his arm. "I do have a question."

"Go ahead," Yoruichi prompted.

"Why, why did you become the Epistle? What exactly happened to the first Epistle?"

Yoruichi pulled back from Rukia, drawing her mouth into a thin line and walking over to go stand by Urahara.

"Ichigo," Yoruichi said, "Have you absorbed any demons lately?"

'_Was she ignoring my question?'_

Ichigo slowly nodded, "Yes, about two weeks ago."

"And are you all better now?"

"Yes, I feel fine-"

"No, that's not what I meant, I meant is the demon gone?"

Ichigo's eyes widened, "No, not yet."

"Has it ever taken this long for a demon to vanish."

Ichigo's brow cinched together in worry, "No," he finally answered.

"Rukia," Yoruichi softly spoke, "I am the Epistle because the original Epistle lost his powers, the same event that I am now undergoing."

'_She could and is losing her powers, but how and why is she telling me this?' _

"Why?"

"I do not know why, nor why I was chosen to receive the original Epistle's powers in the first place. All I know is that until the seal passes onto the new Epistle, all the Sins and Virtues are at risk because their powers are greatly weakened." She looked at Ichigo, the tiniest hint of sorrow in her eyes. "That's the reason that it's taking longer for the demons to disappear after absorbed."

"So, will you become human once the seal is passed?" Rukia turned Yoruichi's attention from Ichigo back onto her.

"I am human already, but yes, I will begin aging once I pass on my powers," she didn't sound sad, but rather relieved. She pointed to the long curve of her tattoo running down her arm. "This line has been growing ever since I became Epistle," she turned her wrist out, "When the line forms a complete loop, my powers will disappear, just as they did with original Epistle." Rukia looked closer, noticing that the two ends of the ring around her wrist was less than a centimeter apart, it was a small distance, but the ink ends were still not yet touching.

"It's distance has been shrinking?"

Yoruichi nodded, "Yes, the original Epistle had a tattoo similar to this, but when I met him, his ring was already closed. The line has been growing slowly but steadily ever since I became the Epistle but only recently have my powers begun to weaken."

"What about the sweepers powers?"

"They have also been weakening, it's taking longer to modify memories and it takes more mental effort from the sweepers."

"What of the original Epistle?" she looked up, meeting Yoruichi's eyes, "Did the original Epistle die?"

A small smile appeared on Yoruichi's lips, "No, he became a sweeper."

_A sweeper? So, then_, "Does that mean, that he's still … alive?"

"Yes, as far as I know. He should have begun aging again though, because he recently ended his contract as a sweeper," Yoruichi said, a hint of sorrow in her voice.

_He was a sweeper? Then did that mean she had met him? Had she encountered the Original Epistle and not even realized it? Was it one of the guys from the bank? Or was he stationed leagues away on another continent? Or was Urahara a sweeper, was he the …_

"No," Urahara said, watching as Rukia mentally connected the dots, "I am not the original Epistle, but I knew him, as well Pride, Envy, Sloth and Gluttony. We all were chosen by the original Epistle but a Sin cannot fill the position of the Epistle, on a Virtue can. I am now merely a sweeper."

"But, why?" Rukia gazed at the mysterious man, "Weren't you set free, why did you choose to live on?"

"I was set free but my Virtue was not," he looked to Yoruichi, a look of attachment flitted in his eyes. "Yes, I could have died many years ago, but I chose to stay with my Virtue even if it meant I had to be a sweeper."

Rukia stared between the two. _'Is this what it looks like, the everlasting bond between a Sin and Virtue?'_

"Epistle," Ichigo was studying his own tattoo, "Why did you choose me as a Sin, any of us. I know we all have our histories, but why us specifically?"

Yoruichi quirked her head slightly to the side, silently mulling over his words, "I don't know how I knew exactly. The previous Epistle and I just knew that each one of you were the ones that were supposed to be our Sins."

"But why do you need us in the first place?"

"Ah, I cannot destroy the demons. I do not have the ability to materialize a sword, or to cleanse a demon. The original Epistle set this system up to help spread the responsibility of dealing with a worldwide problem."

"So, all the powers of the Sins, Virtues and sweepers," Ichigo said slowly, as if trying to compound a rather large thought into a single question, "were originally the Epistle's?"

"Correct, and since the set up of the Sin and Virtue system, the Epistle can no longer use those powers."

"How do you pass on your powers?" Rukia studied Yoruichi's tattoo again.

"I have no control as the when my powers are passed onto the Virtues, that is up to fate, but with the sweepers, they tell me there name, and I grant them their power," Yoruichi said.

"But," Rukia interrupted, "How?"

"The sweepers power?" Yoruichi raised an eyebrow, "I will it to be so. It's like the memory modification, it's a mental phenomunum of sorts."

"What about us," Ichigo's left hand was clasped around his right wrist, "How do you pass on our power to the Sins, how are the Sins created?"

Yoruichi walked back towards him, "You may not remember, but I've met all of you in person."

"What-"

Yoruichi's right arm shot out, her hand encircling Ichigo wrist, clasping right above his tattoo.

"You do not remember this because I modified it from your memory," she added slight pressure into her grip. "With my touch, I branded on you, this tattoo, thus turning you into a Sin," she dropped his wrist, stepping back a few paces.

Ichigo stared at the spot she had held, as if her touch was still there.

"Part of my soul went to you, and you gained the ability to slay the demons."

"I-I've met you before?" Ichigo rubbed his head, "But you modified my memory?"

"Yes, the only Sins that know my identity are Pride, Envy, Gluttony and Sloth."

"But is there a reason you're revealing yourself to me now?" Ichigo looked at Rukia, "And why you're dragging Rukia even further into our messed up family?"

"Ooooh yeah," Yoruichi nodded, "with all the questions going on, I almost forgot the real reason for calling you both here today."

She stepped forward, and lowered her head until her face was inches away from Rukia's. "Rukia Kuchiki, I am in need of your help."

Ichigo tensed, carefully watching Yoruichi, Rukia met the lady's cat-like eyes with her own violet ones, "M-my help? But how could I possibly be of help to you?"

Yoruchi smiled, "It's a large favor but need you to take over for me."

'_Take over for her?'_

"Take over ... what?" Rukia said, her breaths coming in shallow bites.

"What else? You've been chosen to be my successor, the next Epistle."

후계자

* * *

_Yes, nooooo .... what did you think about the last little blurby sentence?_

_Also Soi Fon should be more like her usual self, back to her true personality ... I hope._


	16. Of Troubles and Originals

_Story spoiler relating to Rukia/virtue thing. I'm just going to say this now, because I have a pretty good feeling (not without credible backing) that most of you already know that Rukia is a virtue. So I'm confirming, yes,** Rukia IS A VIRTUE** and yes, she's Ichigo's virtue, this is and IchiRuki story after all. Hope that didn't spoil anyone's reading and please enjoy._

_Nekura Enzeru - Hmm there's no special way for the baddies to find out who the next Epistle is (the only people that know/used to know are the current and original Epistle, at first) but there still is a way. A way involving untrustworthy sweepers, information leaks and something that I'm still working on. I'm still worried a bit about my Nnoitra writing ability, but I'll just have to see how it goes. Thanks for the review :)_

_Hatake Tsughi - The original Epistle's identity is revealed in this chapter :) for once a question answered in the chapter right after the question was asked. Thank you for the review!_

_Anna Haruno - I was hoping somebody would be able to guess what the story was leading up to. I'm glad you got it, but the Yoruichi knew that Rukia was going to be the next Epistle when Rukia was born, because of the tattoo. Thanks for the review :)_

_Yuki no Ryuu - Ryuuki - Hahahaha I know that's all I really think of too when I see Nnoitra. I can't help but think, big white circle, big white circle and also how weird it is that he fires ceroes from his freaking tongue! Thank you for the review!_

_Camilla. Shinigami - Thank you for the wonderful compliment and review! Definitely gave me that good bubbly, happy feeling on the inside! I'll work hard on trying to keep up the good ideas and putting them into my story. Thanks again for the review!_

_KuroiTsuki7 - The whole virtue/epistle thing, in this chapter, but yes only Virtues can be the Epistle but the old Epistle knows a long time in advance who the next epistle will be even if they don't know what Virtue the future epistle will be. Ack, that was a very bad typo on my part, I really wonder where my brain was . . . I bet you'd do a way better job proofreading than me . . . have any free time? I kid, I kid, but thanks for the review, and I'll fix that spelling thing :)_

_Allyieh - Good deal, you're back on board with the story again right? I hope, and just let me know if you have anymore questions. Thanks for the review!_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord - I'm guessing that it's holy sh** and you're not calling me a 'hoe' right? If you are it's fine, and funny but the boondocks? Sounds like where my grandma lives (without internet and cellphone service). Well, I'm glad you're back now and I hope the story didn't throw you for too crazy of a loop and I'm glad you like the new development. Thanks for the review!_

_xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx - look at that, name is correct on the first try :) but I hope your head isn't hurt from all the fainting action the last chapter caused. Thank you for the review :)_

_Llyssa-maiden - I'm glad you knew Yoruichi was the epistle, because I did feel somewhat bad about implying that Soi Fon was the Epistle, and thus Urahara's partner. Thanks for the review!_

_Ichi-Ruki4Eva - Questions, questions, lovely questions :) Hmm let's see, yep Rukia is the next Epistle, because fate decided it. She is a virtue, because only virtues can be the epistle but Rukia just hasn't shown her virtue side yet. The original epistle, totally in this chapter and questions are good, they help keep my story in line. Thank you for the review!_

_jojovmr - Thanks for the review, much appreciated and I hope you're enjoying the story so far :)_

_Sim-chan - Hmm, not a virtue yet, but will be. Only virtues can be the Epistle and yes, she won't have the same relationship with Ichigo is she's the epistle as opposed to just being a virtue, but she won't undergo the reincarnation and will stay alive for long long time (don't know how long, however long until the next epistle appears). This chapters the start of the 'goods' and I hope it's halfway to decent (I'm not the best at action scenes). Thank you for the review!_

_star133 - I'm glad you like Rukia being the epistle (I like it too) and thanks for the review!_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - I have troubles logging in too sometimes (and don't know why) but Soi Fon is old. I don't have an exact age in years, but she's around two thousand years old. Humans can't be the Epistle unless they become a virtue first. Rukia is the epistle because is was preordaned by fate and she is a virtue, she just needs to show her virtue side still. Yoruichi became an epistle around seven hundred years ago and yes, I'll just confirm that Rukia is Ichigo's virtue because I know a lot of people are wondering. Yep, sins can be hurt, they feel pain, but they heal quickly and the only way to be immortal is to: either be chosen to be a sin or become a sweeper and continuously renew your contract. Fun questions, got my mind working again and thank you for the review :)_

_lelouchgurl - yep, Rukia is a virtue, just not yet, so she can't be the Epistle yet either. Aizen, is Ichigo's older adoptive brother, the Sin Envy and he's kinda like the family doctor. He isn't the antagonist in this story though, he's more just supporting cast. Thanks for the review!_

_Song: Life Goes On - Arisaka Mika (in japanese)_

**Disclaimer:** I do not in anyway own Bleach (or the music of Arisaka)

Warning: BAD WORDS ALERT, just thought I'd say that there is "strong language" usage in this chapter. I know most of you probably don't care, but i still felt I should give some warning because I noticed that for some reason I haven't used many cuss words so far ...

* * *

제시되는 악

Nnoitra Jiruga was happy.

After fifty plus years he was finally going to get what he had wanted for so long, and maybe more.

"Renji, Tesla," he looked to his men, "after we get in, do as you please."

He turned, heading out the red peeling painted door.

"but remember, the little girl is mine."

광산

The ringing silence that followed echoed in Rukia's ears.

The pieces began to connect as Rukia finally finished processing what had just been said.

_I'm the next Epistle?_

She couldn't help it, she had to laugh, the feelings had to be let out somehow. Ichigo looked at her, a bit worried about her sudden outburst.

"Rukia?"

"I'm sorry, but really? What, I'm the Epistle now? I'm not even a Virtue, there's nothing special about me," she let the laughter die from her lips, looking around to stare at the hard set faces around her. "I can't be the Epistle … can I?"

Silence ensued and Ichigo came to Rukia's aide, "I don't know what this bullshit is that you're trying to pull but it is really annoying me, so get to the truth or else Rukia and I will be leaving."

Soi Fon snorted, "Idiots."

"Yoruichi, I told you that they wouldn't just accept it," Urahara sighed. "When you became Epistle you already had the tattoo, so the matter wasn't quite as ludicrous, but in this case, I'd say that we jumped the gun."

"But I was completely serious when I said it," Yoruichi sighed, throwing up her hands. "When the last Epistle told me, he merely waved his hand and told me the job was mine then left to go and drink tea," Yoruichi mulled over the matter. "I just don't see where we went wrong, I even did that whole, look ya in the eye thing."

"Now, now Yoruichi, she still doesn't have the tattoo remember," Urahara pointed out.

Urahara shrugged and Yoruichi rubbed her in chin in thought.

"Y-you're serious?" Rukia stared back and forth between the two, her question causing them both to turn and look at her. "This is all madness, utter madness. You may be the Epistle," she pointed at Yoruichi, "and he may be the past Sin. That I can believe, but I can not be the Epistle."

"Why not?" Urahara and Yoruichi asked at the same time.

"I-" she didn't really have an answer for that, no answer that had sufficient backing and was logically sound, then again, this conversation bordered on the edges of unreality to begin with. "I just am not. I'm ordinary, I have no sixth sense, no incredible mental powers and I've never erased someone's memories before, just-"

Yoruichi cut across her verbal splurge, "But you'd believe me if I told you that you were a Virtue right?"

Rukia turned away, "M-most likely."

"And why is that?"

"That, that just seems more, more, I don't know. More likely, more realistic, it's just easier to grasp onto. Momo was a Virtue after all, she's like me, a high school girl, but she became a Virtue. But I'm not even a Virtue to begin with, and you said only Virtues could become the Epistle."

"I've known that you would be the Epistle ever since you were born. There is no mistaking in the choosing. And since I know that you are the Epistle, I can also assure you that you are indeed a Virtue. You have yet to show yourself yet. I cannot say for certain whose Virtue you are, but judging from who now stands by your side, I have a pretty good idea."

Rukia still felt her mind working to grasp the idea that she could be a Virtue, let alone the Epistle. Being a Virtue she could handle, maybe, but only because Ichigo would be by her side, always.

But Epistle? Would Ichigo stay with her as Urahara had stayed with Yoruichi?

She looked down to her hand Ichigo held clasped in his.

"Rukia," Yoruichi sought out the small girl's eyes. "You'll end up believing me one way or another, because one day, a tattoo, just like mine, will appear on your arm. I don't know if will appear soon after you get your Virtue powers or not for many more years. All I can tell you is that the sooner you believe me, the sooner we can start training you."

"Training me? For what?"

"To be the next Epistle, of course."

Rukia shook her head, "Then why didn't you just wait until my tattoo appeared?"

Yoruichi's eyes clouded over with a thought only she knew, "There is a danger to our family," she said in a halting voice, "and as the new head, it's important for you to survive."

"Danger?" Ichigo's hand tensed on Rukia's.

The Epistle heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing her arm that bore the tattoo. "My identity may have been leaked, so to ensure the future of the Sins and Virtues, Rukia you must be prepared to take over as soon as possible."

"But you can't be killed."

"That may be true, but I, unlike the Sins can be possessed by a demon, any demon, no matter if I am guilty of the sin or not. My soul, has been spread across seven other people, so there is no protection for me against the demons that so desperately seek to devour my being."

"You think that I can .." Rukia rubbed her head, "Aagh, I just can't-"

"If you want proof that you're the next Epistle," Soi Fon called, "there is someone you can ask."

Ichigo snorted, cutting off Rukia, before she could reply, "Che right. Ask who? You?"

"I've already told you, but you refuse to believe the words I speak," Soi Fon stared at the pair. "So, Rukia, if you want a credible source," her eyes connected with hers, "ask your older brother."

Rukia turned her gaze to the other girl, "My brother? What does he have to do with your family?" her voice seemed to border on the edges of hysteria as she worked to keep calm. First, they had told her that she's the next Epistle and now they wanted to inform her that her brother somehow knew about the whole mess? "How would he know whether I'm actually the Epistle or not?"

"Your brother knows a lot more that you think," Urahara grinned. "He is after all the original."

"My brother is the original …" Rukia couldn't believe it, _orginal? The original ... _"Epistle?"

"Exactly."

본래

_So:_

_Ever since I met Ichigo my world has been turned wacko crazy._

_First he's immortal, he's a Sin and he's been alive for over five hundred years._

_Then there are the Virtues, Momo's a Virtue and the Virtues are reincarnations._

_Demons, 'nough said._

_Next there are sweepers, with the ability to modify memories and who are scattered worldwide._

_Last the Epistle, thought 'he' was a 'he' but it turns out 'he' is actually a' she.'_

_Now I'm supposedly a Virtue, just not yet and I'm also the Epistle?!?!?_

_Oh, let's not forget that my brother is the original Epistle._

_What the…_

"Hell!" Rukia exclaimed, frantically running her hands through her hair.

Ichigo looked at her surprised. "Everything ok, little one?"

Rukia continued to ponder her own thoughts. What she thought was going to be "merely" a meeting with the Epistle had turned out to be a whole other experience. She had gone into the meeting with the head of the family not knowing what to expect, but what had actually occurred she never would have been able to think up, not in a million years. She now had a completely different set of worries on her mind than she had originally planned to encounter.

Rukia now sat next to Ichigo in her own house, on her couch. Yoruichi had merely let them leave, telling Rukia that they would meet again. She had pulled Rukia further into the mystery that was their family, telling her their biggest secret, informing her that she, Rukia was a Virtue and the next Epistle and ...

Yoruichi had merely let her walk out of there.

The whole ride back to her house with Ichigo was silent, as both rode, lost in their own deliberations.

She pulled out her cell phone, surprised to find that her hands were shaking. Her brother hadn't answered when she had called earlier, from during the car ride and left a message, telling him she had something important to discuss with him. Three rings, and her brothers voice mail sounded. She let out a loud huff of air, merely closing her phone. No point in multiple voicemails.

_She told me all this about her, and her family, and just let me leave? No swearing to secrecy, contracts in blood, it's like she trusts me already, but she doesn't even really know me ..._

"Rukia."

She blinked her eyes a few time, her mind focusing back on the present. Ichigo held her face in his hands as he kneeled before her sitting form on the couch.

"I-ichigo? What are you doing?"

She tried to pull back as she realized that his face was getting closer to hers but he gently held her face in place. "That was close," he smiled, "I thought I had lost you there for a second. You had such a far away look in your eyes." He gently massaged her jaw line with her thumbs, rubbing small circles, trying to get her to relax. His eyebrows were pulled together in worry and his eyes held a deeper anxiety.

"Ichigo," she swallowed as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. "If I am, if I really am the Epistle … what would you think?"

His eyes were closed as he slowly breathed, "I wouldn't care I guess. So long as you're my Virtue to begin with." Her face felt flushed, and she reached up, placing her hand on one of his hands that held her face.

"You wouldn't care that we wouldn't be ale to be together like Momo and Hitsugaya, like a Sin and Virtue?"

"If you really are my Virtue and you become the Epistle, then I would no longer have a Virtue. My Virtue would be pulled from the reincarnation cycle and I would be alone."

Rukia felt his lips inches from hers. "If I was the Epistle, I could, well would you like me to free you?"

He merely sat there in silence, pressing closer to her a fraction of an inch, before he let out a loud sigh and leaned back, sitting on his heels. "I'll let you choose that, and accept whatever you decide."

"B-but that's not an answer-"

He held up a hand and grinned, "That's all you get until we figure out whether or not you are actually the Epistle. If you are, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"We?"

"Yes, because small children such as yourself should not cross dangerous bridges by themselves."

And cue Ichigo to ruin the romantic ambiance.

"But on another note, shouldn't that stick-up-his-butt brother of yours have called back by now?"

"My brother is nothing like that," Rukia almost screeched. She glanced at the clock feeling a tinge of worry nonetheless. "He should have, it's very unlike him to not call me back."

Her brother never failed to call her back within half an hour, but now almost five hours of her sitting around and waiting, she still had yet to receive any contact from her usually very punctual brother. Rukia rubbed her eyes, it was almost midnight, and she and Ichigo had merely sat in her living room, in silence for the whole time since she had returned home.

How many times had she called him? Once every fifteen minutes, for five hours ... about twenty times? Maybe more?

All the attempts at contact had ended in the same result, a voicemail and her getting no closer to talking to her brother.

"He's just late, maybe his phone died," Rukia bit her lip, no his phone wasn't dead, it was ringing, he just wasn't answering. Her limbs were sore from sitting in the same position for so long and her stomach had begun to gain the feeling of emptiness now that is was no longer filled with fear.

"Well, I don't who he thinks he is-" Ichigo was cut off as his own phone vibrated. His hand shot out and he flipped open the phone, pressing the receiver against his ear. "Hello?"

Rukia snorted, _yes, who does he think he is indeed, I mean he's only the supposed original Epistle. I mean come on!_

"I understand," Ichigo nodded, getting to his feet. He shut his phone, sliding it into his pocket as he leaned down to look at Rukia. "Duty calls," he said pressing a kiss onto her forehead. He pulled back, the worry now clearly displayed on his features, "Call me if there's any problems." He hesitated, but reached forward and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. He pulled her head forward and brought her lips to his. His lips were gentle and her body yearned to be closer to his.

Rukia nuzzled in closer, but he had already pulled away, a slight smirk on his face as he headed towards the front door. He waved over his shoulder, "I'll send Rangiku over."

"Wait, why are you going?" Rukia yelled, getting to her feet, still a bit light headed from Ichigo's kiss.

"There's a demon and it's an Ira demon. Please be safe, and stay indoors until Rangiku and Gin get here," he shut the door, leaving Rukia in silence.

"You're leaving me alone at a time like this?" Rukia asked the already closed door. "I have to ask my brother whether or not he's the original Epistle by myself?"

_Maybe it's better this way, for some reason my brother always looks mad whenever he sees Ichigo._

An uneasy silence settled in Ichigo's wake. The silence with Ichigo had been comforting, safe but in his absence a shadow of apprehension came to rest in his stead.

Her feet brought her to the kitchen, as she tried to focus on reaching out to grab a glass sitting on the high shelf. A feeling of unease had begun to settle now that she was alone, almost as if ..

The glass slipped from the shelf, falling and shattering into a million twinkling pieces all over the tiled floor of the kitchen. She sensed it before any indication appeared.

The chill of foreboding.

"Rukia, sweet little Rukia, we are alone now at last?"

Rukia spun around, abruptly dragged from her thoughts as the sudden sound of another's voice caused her sympathetic nervous system to kick into high gear. Her eyes frantically scanned the living, the direction the voice had come from, as her mind attempted to grasp onto the recognition she had felt upon hearing the voice.

_Who is it? I know I've heard this voice before …_

The feeling of unshakable fear set in as the gears in her mind clicked into place.

_Nnoi-_

No, it couldn't be him ... could it?

How would he get in, how would he find her?

Help, she needed someone ...

Ichigo.

Her hand shot down to her pocket, her cell phone, crap ...

she had left it on the coffee table of the living room ... of course.

She slowly backed up, towards the stairs and her room. Every shadow threatened and her body tensed, ready to spring. She reached back with her foot, her heel hitting the bottom stair. Gripping the railing with one hand, as she casted one last sweeping glance across her now threatening home, she quickly turned, rushing up the stairs.

A cackling laugh echoed from somewhere behind her. "Rukia, where are you going?"

The dark hallway seemed to stretch longer and longer as she sought the door to her room. She stumbled into her room, shutting and locking the door behind her. The phone, the only other phone in her house, was in her room. Just a safety measure, Byakuya had called it, but now it was her mind consuming ray of hope. The moonlight illuminated her room, making the familiar layout of the space foreign and threatening. She clenched her jaw, not wanting to turn on her light as she collapsed to the ground by her bedside table.

Her breath was haggard, and she was having troubles thinking. Her window was open, and she was sure it had been closed when she had left. The cold air ripped through her room, further chilling her slender form. _Calm girl, calm._

With clumsy fingers she picked up the phone, and reached out to pull the note off the wall above her head. The note that was now her lifeline, given to her by Ichigo the first time they had talked in her home. Never did she think that she would be so grateful that she had kept it. She paused as she heard a noise from outside, _now or never_. The digits were in and she hit the talk button.

_This wasn't what I had in mind when I had read 'just in case.'_

도움

Ichigo cursed.

He had followed the directions he had received from a rather grumpy Soi Fon, but her had yet to spot the possessed human he was supposed to be seeking.

"Are you sure there's actually a demon," he muttured into his headset again.

"Shut up you worthless ass," Soi Fon's was heard through the earpiece. "I swear if you ask me one more time, I will find a way to reach through you head set and rip your spleen out through your throat."

"You're such a great mother," Ichigo continued his way down the hallway of the dark, abandoned apartment buildings. The floor groaned, as Ichigo kept his feet out of the large holes that gaped into the floors below.

Clattering echoed from up ahead and Ichigo stilled. He inched forward, pressing his back against the wall as he reached out slowly with one hand and pressed lightly on the door, opening it inch by inch.

_Caughtcha._

Scuttering of feet and the creaking of another door came from inside and Ichigo threw himself into the room, just in time to spot someone's lithe form slide through another door, deeper in the room.

"Shit," he took off after, throwing out his right hand as his tattoo flurried and a pure black sword dropped downward. He grasped the handle as he brought the black blade forward, kicking down the door in front of him and pausing in the doorway.

His eyes adjusted to the bleak darkness of the surrounding room. The empty room's paint peeling wall and dusty covered floor did no justice in hiding the small cowering man he saw crouched below the window sill.

"This is the demon?" Ichigo studied the man. This one was the one that had had him running all up and down the whole damn abandoned apartment complex building? Ichigo sighed, "How about we make this easy? I've been having one hell of a day, so a little break is needed."

The man cackled, a thick, viscous stream of liquid creeping down his chin. His eyes bulged as he seemingly struggled to breath. "A Sin right? I've heard about you, and yes, I see your blade too now."

"How did you know about me?" Ichigo raised his sword, trying to indiscreetly get closer to the small man.

"Can't tell you," the man leered as he straightened, standing at full height. He leaned casually against the window sill, looking Ichigo over. "So, which Sin are you, no wait let me guess, you're Wrath aren't you?"

Ichigo stopped in his forward movement, "How did you know?"

"Because, I'm a Wrath demon," his mouth slouched sideways and his tongue sagged out. "I've taken over this body and now it's mine. Since you're here and I'm here, I'm guessing that you are the Wrath Sin."

Ichigo's mind was ticking through the possibilities as he glared at the man, "How do you know all this? Who told you?"

Another sickening laugh, "I'm lost, are you here to help me?" his grin creeped further up his face. "So very lost."

"I asked you a question," Ichigo took a step forward.

"Tell me sin," the man leaned back against the window sill, "why do I have to dies, while you continue to live?"

"Shut the hell up, you forfeited your right to live when you took over another's life," Ichigo's right hand thrust outward, the black blade grazing the man's shoulder as the man cackled and flipped backwards, out the window.

"Shit!" Ichigo sprinted to the opening, grabbing the sill and jumping up to crouch on the small ledge.

"What now?" he hissed, as his phone buzzed. A call now? Should he even bother answering? His phone was forgotten as he spotted the possessed man sprinting down the ally, getting further away by the second.

소유하는

"Hello Rukia."

Rukia jumped, her phone sliding from her hands.

She slowly turned, sensing the body right behind her.

She felt her eyes quiver, but she slowly raised them, her field of vision hesitantly raising. Up his chest, shoulders, neck and onto his face, with the usual sickening grin pasted onto it.

"Nnoitra Jiruga," she gasped out.

He grinned, and his hand shot out, his long fingers made contact with her neck and immediately clamped down around the slender form. "You know my name, I'm so pleased." His long tongue came out as he licked his lips. He leaned down, inhaling deeply and making Rukia's skin cringe. "You smell nice little Rukia."

The pale, spider like digits of his other hand curled around the phone that lay upturned on the table. "Let's keep this secret," he pressed the phone back down on the receiver, "this whole you and me thing, that is."

Her breathing became difficult as he continued to vary the pressure on her windpipe. His grip tightened and loosened as he grinned, watching the effect his grip had on Rukia's respirations.

He tightened his cold, slender fingers around her neck and lifted, pulling her up to her toes. Rukia began to choke, as his fingernails dug into her skin, and the delicate cartilage structure of her trachea began to be constricted. She grit her teeth, struggling to keep her head upright and reached up with her hands, to cling at his wrist. Nnoitra's smile widened and he scanned her body, looking her flailing form up and down, as if appraising a belonging.

He leaned his head down by her ear, is nose brushing aside her hair, "Oh the things we're going to do."

He began moving, half dragging, half carrying Rukia along by her neck. He merely kicked open her door, digging his nails further into the skin on her neck as he pulled her down the hallway. "How about you and me go on a little outing?" He smiled as he saw her knees give out as he descended the stairs, her slender legs being bashed unmercifully by the staircase. He reached her front door, extending his long arm to grasp onto the knob.

The door swung open before he could even turn the handle, and he jumped back, pulling Rukia into a tight headlock and clasping his hand over her mouth.

붙잡는

He had him cornered now, finally after chasing the agile man. Earlier, he would get close, but the man would slip away and escape, inches from Ichigo. But no, this time, he had him. Ichigo's nerves were on edge and his patience, short to begin with, had long past run out. The possessed human never tried to confront him, merely content with running in circles. He wasn't like other demons, he hadn't tried to attack him, injure him, nothing. If he didn't know any better, he would almost have said that the man was purposely …

"Fuck," Ichigo bitterly said, "you're doing this on purpose aren't you? Why are you trying to burn my time?"

The man panted, his throat pressed up against the black blade of Ichigo's sword. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't have time for you," Ichigo moved the sword's point down, placing it over the man's heart. "I don't give a damn about what your purpose is."

"W-wait," the man's crazed eyes widened as the tip of the sword drew a thin stream of blood from his chest. "What are you doing?"

"Doing my job, demon, as much as I dislike it, for now you're going to become a part of my body," a grin appeared on his face, a grin containing no warmth, kindness or feelings of sincerity.

"Wait I can give you information, I was told to-"

"I don't care," Ichigo spat at the man, pressing the blade forward and into the man's chest. "If there's a problem, take it up with me when I meet you again in hell."

The man cringed and screamed, as the black substance crept from his chest, snaking up Ichigo's sword. "It's too late now," he fixed Ichigo with a stare, "The damage has been done. Hell on earth for you starts now."

실제적인 동기

* * *

_Start of action, here we go. Hope you didn't mind the story told from some different points of view (Nnoitra and Ichigo) and sorry for the language._


	17. Of Panics and Plans

_Aaah such a long time since I updated and I feel really really bad! Sorry, this has just not been my week/past two weeks but this chapter is finally up!_

_A few people have asked for this, so I just decided to add it in and hope it helps :)_

Info Summary for Of Sins and Virtues:

Sins:  
+ Immortal  
+ Only seven, one representing each sin  
+ Kill demons by absorbing into their own body  
+ Each can materialize a sword  
+ All have tattoo with name of designated sin (in Latin) on right wrist, palm side.  
+ Only the Greed, Wrath and Lust sins have been replaced. Greed (Urahara) was pardoned by the Epistle at the time. Wrath, killed by her virtue. Lust, killed by virtue.  
+ Can only be killed by corresponding virtue  
+ Only age once they've met their virtue.  
+ Return original age, from when they were chosen once Virtue dies  
+ Feel immediate connection when they meet their Virtue  
+ Cannot reproduce while they are sins  
+ Are bound for life, to the Epistle  
+ Cannot be possessed by demons, souls are protected by Epistle  
+ All have met Epistle at one time or another, some (Ichigo, Yoshino, Hisagi) have had meeting wiped from their memories

Current Sins:  
+ Pride - Toshiro Hitsugaya  
+ Envy - Sosuke Aizen  
+ Wrath - Ichigo Kurosaki  
+ Sloth - Ryusei "Kenryuu" Kenzaki (Most of the time, I refer to him as Kenryuu)  
+ Greed - Shuuhei Hisagi  
+ Gluttony - Rangiku Matsumoto  
+ Lust - Yoshino Soma

Ages, Sins:  
+ Hitsugaya = oldest, don't really want to pin an age on him to avoid "creation of universe" (religion vs. science) questions but he's over two thousan years old. Chosen when he was 14  
+ Aizen = fifty years younger than Hitsugaya. Chosen when he was 26  
+ Kurosaki = Around five hundred years old. Chosen when he was 18  
+ Kenzaki = Around six hundred and eighty years old. Chosen when he was 16  
+ Hisagi = Around six hundred years old. Chosen when he was 18  
+ Matsumoto = Around six and fifty hundred years old. Chosen when she was 20  
+ Yoshino = Around four hundred years old. Chosen when she was 21

Cars:  
+ Hitsugaya : Hyundai Genesis Coupe  
+ Aizen: Hyundai BLUE-WILL  
+ Ichigo: Lexus LS600  
+ Kenryuu: Lamborghini Gallardo  
+ Hisagi: Mercedes Benz CLK DTM  
+ Matsumoto: Jaguar xf  
+ Yoshino: Honda FCX Clarity  
*** I know some of these aren't out yet, but heck a girl can dream right?

Hitsugaya owns his own condo in town and the rest of the family lives outside of town in a large, two story, white house

Virtues:  
+ Not immortal  
+ Undergo reincarnation but do not retain memories of past lives  
+ Cleanse demons  
+ Cleansing done by full palm contact by virtue, anywhere on possessed human's body  
+ Have tattoo of their virtue (in Latin) on right middle finger on ring finger side  
+ Can be possessed by demons  
+ Have similar physical characteristics to past their virtues  
+ Can not be found until 16 years old and undergo life threatening experience  
+ Tattoo appears once having gone through life threatening experience  
+ If no life threatening experience, tattoo appears automatically at age 21  
+ Age just like all humans  
+ Virtues powers are passed through reincarnation process, powers are not from Epistle

Current Virtues:  
+ Humility - Hinamori Momo  
+ Kindness - None  
+ Patience - Rukia Kuchiki  
+ Diligence - Yoo Hee  
+ Charity - None  
+ Temperance - Ichimaru Gin  
+ Chastity - Uryu Ishida

Ages, Virtues:  
+ Momo = 16  
+ Rukia = 16/17  
+ Yoo Hee = 24  
+ Gin = 20  
+ Ishida = 20

Epistle:  
+ Can only be past Virtue  
+ Has large tattoo on right arm with names of all current Sins and Virtues  
+ Can sense Sins  
+ Knows when Virtues awaken  
+ "Father" of family  
+ Has a private force of ten sweepers  
+ Give Sins and sweepers their powers  
+ Can pass power onto sweepers without having to meet them face to face  
+ Has ability to modify memories  
+ Can be possessed by demons  
+ All demons seek to possess

+ First Epistle: Byakuya Kuchiki  
+ Current Epistle: Yoruichi Shihoin  
+ Next Epistle: Rukia Kuchiki

+ Yoruichi is the past charity virtue. She became Epistle around six hundred and sixty years ago. Urahara (first greed sin), her sin, became a sweeper, to remain immortal and stay by her side

+ Byakuya is the original epistle, who became a sweeper  
+ He has begun to age again  
+ Given task of watching over Rukia  
+ Not Rukia's real brother, but did not her birth parents  
+ Runs a huge chain of hotels worldwide

+ Soi Fon is the "mother" of the family.  
+ She is Yoruichi's opposite and the partner of the original sweeper  
+ She can sense demons  
+ Pretends to be Rukia's class mate for years before Ichigo and the rest of his family appear  
+ Her personal sweeper is Grimmjow  
+ Has tattoo (reading Dante) on the right side of her stomach

Sweepers:  
+ Serve 7 year contracts with Epistle  
+ Modify memories  
+ Have to meet with Soi Fon if they wish to renew contract  
+ Killed if they do not follow orders  
+ Can only end contract if they meet directly with Epistle  
+ Stationed worldwide  
+ Can return to normal human life at end of contract, but memory is wiped before they do  
+ Only about twenty travel  
+ Have to touch finger tip onto forehead of human to modify memories  
+ Kidnap possessed humans to be cleansed by sins later on  
+ Byakuya became sweeper as did Urahara

Nnoitra Jiruga:  
+ Renegade sweeper  
+ Service started fifty years ago  
+ Has been able to stop all attempts at killing him by other sweepers  
+ Has two followers of sorts - Tesla, Renji  
+ Met Rukia once in her past, has something to do with her parents

Rukia:  
+ The next patience virtue and Epistle  
+ member of swim team  
+ Always ranked number two in her classes (except once)  
+ Had crush on Kaien  
+ Best friends with Momo and Senna  
+ Her godfather is Ukitake  
+ Some of her memories are sealed away

Kaien Shiba:  
+ Rukia's classmate  
+ Son of English teacher  
+ Always ranked number 1  
+ Has two older brothers  
+ Resembles one of the past patience virtues back when wrath sin was still female

Senna: Rukia's friend. Her brother is the current head of the yakuza. Had a crush on Ichigo.

Orihime Inoue: Was Kaien's girlfriend.

Nemu: College student, Rukia's house keeper.

Ukitake: Rukia godfather, lives in Italy.

Yamamoto: History teacher

_Hope this helped with sum up some stuff_

_xleger sourirex - ooh interesting name, can I ask if it has a special meaning of sorts? And oddly no one has ever asked about the idea of this story before but this story was actually supposed to be a completely different plot/idea. The original idea had nothing to do with Sins/Virtues and was actually about "body jumpers" but for some reason I just didn't really like the starting chapter and decided to take this story in a different direction. How I came up with the new direction though ... I'm not really sure but I promise you that I got into the whole sin/virtue thing before I found out that the newest Bleach manga chapters were named after the sins. Thanks for the question and the review!_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Hmm I should've put a bit more there, but Ichigo was busy demon hunting and he thought Rangiku would be there to take care of Rukia anyway. Byakuya was/could be Epistle because he was chosen to be by fate. He's just and ex-epistle, no sin or virtue, after all he is the original Epistle, there were no sins/virtues before him. The Byakuya/Rukia sibling thing is touched upon in this chapter, but I'll elaborate on it later. Renji, is one of Nnoitra's lackeys ... Byakuya's oooooold but I don't want to pin an exact age on him because I don't really want to get into the whole "creation of the universe" argument between science and religion. Ichigo was too busy hunting creepy demons to answer his phone. Byakuya's location is secret for now. Ukitake is Rukia's godfather and more will be explained on him later. And I wasn't really sure about the last part, but I hope I'm not stupid :( Thanks for the great questions and review!_

_emotionalcrack - Aaah I know when I reread it I'm like "WTF there's too much info going on!" But thanks for the review :)_

_MaRuune - Byakuya is safe ... ish, no worries, he's a big boy and can take care of himself and if he can't he has certain *cough connections that can. Nnoitra also had a way of getting into the house, but I don't think that's revealed until the next chapter. Thank you for the review :)_

_Anna Haruno - Virtues can be traitors yes and at first I was going to make Momo the "bad" turncoat of the story but decided not to because I actually really like Momo's character so I came up with a different plan instead of a virtue gone traitor. I'm still trying to decide what to do with the Ichigo/Rukia being sin/Epistle situation but I have an idea. Lovely review as always, mucho gracias :)_

_xikauai - I've been doing a lot of cliff hangers lately huh? Sorry sorry :) hope it adds to the suspense of the story, thanks for the review!_

_Yuki no Ryuu - Ryuuki - Hmm, I'm glad you like :) I liked your review too, made me smile, thanks!_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord - Yes Nnoitra is a creepy stalker and man, four hours away from "civilized technological advancements"? Sounds like an experience, at least at my grandma's they have cell phone service only an hour away but they also have lots of horses and goats and cows ... and cowpies. Thanks for the review :)_

_Camilla. Shinigami - I'm glad you dislike Nnoitra too. I wanted a bad guy that was really fitting and I somewhat like Aizen/Gin's characters so decided to make them "good" guys this time. And Tosen, he's just boring so I don't even know if he'll be in this story. Strangely that last sentence I had to write about fifteen times until I was satisfied with it, but I'm glad you like it! Maybe I'll add it into the story's main summary somehow ... Thanks for the review too :)_

_Hatake Tsughi - Ah yes, there is indeed a reason that Rukia was captured so easily but the person showing up ... let's just say he may not be very helpful and I'm glad you thought Nnoitra was, how did you put it ... "menacing" ooh I like that word! I think I'll try and use it! Thanks for the lovely review!_

_SilverStella - You are so awesome, great morale boosting review that made me smile, thanks :)_

_Ichi-Ruki4Eva - Rukia know Nnoitra from her past, but she doesn't know exactly how, just that she's met him before and don't worry, their history together will be revealed soon. Ahh, good pick up on the decoy thing and that will be mentioned later too :) thank you for the review!_

_Bitter-Sweet-ish - I'm glad you're reading my story and sadly I don't know Korean even though I am. I can read Korean, but have no idea what I'm saying. Thanks for the review :)_

_Song: Maria - Kim Ah Joong_

**Disclaimer:** As always I do not in anyway own Bleach or it's characters (Or Kim Ah Joong's song)

* * *

이렇게 그것은 시작된다

Byakuya rubbed his wrists, finally freed from the heavy, metal cuffs as they fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

He pulled on the suit jacket offered to him by his assistant, "You better take care of this, the part you play is crucial. If you mess up and let any harm befall her, I promise you, immortal or not, I will kill you." Byakuya fixed the man next to him with his steely glare. "Don't mess this up, this plan has been in the making for more than sixteen years."

계획

"I'm popular tonight," Ichigo said, pulling out his phone as it beeped once again, indicating a missed call. "Two missed calls, one from Rangiku and one from … Rukia?"

The man, slumped on the floor in front of him, groaned as he rubbed his eyes, blinking to gaze with bleary eyes at Ichigo.

"Wh-whas goin on?"

The heel of Ichigo's foot met with the man's nose, knocking him into another unnatural slumber as the Ichigo continued to stare at the screen of his phone. "Why did Rukia call me?"

His phone started to buzz again. A phone number he didn't know, he shrugged, hitting the end button, he had someone more important to talk to at the moment. The first three digits of Rukia's number were in his phone when an incoming call interrupted his number punching, it was the same phone number from before.

"What!" Ichigo practically screamed into his cellphone as he answered.

"I-Ichigo?"

"Yes, who the hell is this? The only people that have this number are from my family, but I don't recognize your number or voice."

"Um, this is, this is Momo Hinamori."

Ichigo's eyebrows rose and he awkwardly cleared his throat, "Oh, right … sorry about that, I forget certain things and-"

"It's okay, but Ichigo, I have something important to ask you about, do you know where Rukia is?"

"She's at her house with Rangiku," he said automatically.

A long silence ensued from the other side of the line, "Are you sure? I'm with Rangiku and we're at Rukia's house, but …"

"But what?"

… "Rukia isn't here"

"She's probably just asleep in her room and didn't hear you calling for her or something" he said, half to reassure Momo and partly to reassure himself.

"No, she's not here at all, we've looked in every room, everywhere. She's gone."

_Gone? _The word didn't immediately register with Ichigo.

"What do you mean?" The black blade fell from Ichigo's hand, shattering midair. "She's not there? Where is she?"

"I-I-I don't know, she's not here, anywhere, we looked, there's no notes or messages on the answering machine or anything. You really don't know where she is?"

Ichigo's body felt weak, somehow he made it to the wall and slumped over, leaning his shoulder against the wall's faded wallpaper.

"I-Ichigo? Are you still there?"

Ichigo's eyes were clenched tightly shut and his jaw was flexed, "Yes, I'm still here."

"Ichigo what should, what should we do?"

"Why do you need to ask, there's only one answer. I'm going to find Rukia."

가는

"Let me through, let me through now dammit!"

Soi Fon's eyes narrowed dangerously, gazing down the hallway at the source of yelling, "Is that Pride? Why is he making so much noise?"

Yoruichi sighed, motioning with her hand to Soi Fon to go and find out what was causing all the commotion. Soi Fon nodded, disappearing from the room, cracking her knuckles as she went. More shouts were heard following her absence then several loud thwacks trailed by a long silence.

"Yoruichi," Soi Fon rushed back into the room, Hitsugaya in her wake. "The third, she's missing!"

Yoruichi took in Soi Fon's panic stricken eyes and Hitsugaya's present look of concern, holding up her hand to stop Soi Fon's stream of words. "We need to wait."

Hitsugaya scrutinized his leader, "We're … waiting?"

"Nnoitra has evaded us for too long, we need to be absolutely sure that we capture him this time."

"I don't understand, what does Rukia's absence have to do with Nnoitra's capture?" Hitsugaya eyes widened, "Wait, did Nnotra take Rukia? Did you know, did you know that Nnoitra was going to try and kidnap Rukia?"

Soi Fon angrily snapped, "How dare you imply-"

"No," Yoruichi's face was grim, "He is correct, I did indeed know what Nnoitra was intending to do all along."

Soi Fon was speechless, she didn't seem to be able to grasp onto the fact that Yoruichi had kept something from her, something important. "But Yoruichi, why?"

"Nnoitra is too dangerous to be left alone, we needed a time to catch him and end his exploits once and for all."

Hitsugaya's lifted his troubled eyes to look up at the Epistle, "Exploits?"

Yoruichi nodded, "He's been working very hard, ever since he left the family. He's come up with a very bold plan and stealing Rukia is one of the very last parts of his plot."

"What plot? What is he planning?"

"Nnoitra, is trying to take something that isn't his. He's trying to find a way to take the Epistle's powers."

마지막 부분

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed under his breath for the thousandth time that night. All the calls he had made had yet to produce a satisfactory result. Momo didn't know anything, Rangiku had gone over to Rukia's and hadn't found anything, Soi Fon hadn't contacted him yet, Urahara was MIA and Byakuya's voice mail was the only one to answer his rants when he called. To top it all, Rukia's cell phone was off.

"Rukia where are you?" His mind seemed overfilled with possibilities, all of which were horrid in nature and by no means provided him with any ease of mind. His mind became obsessed with questions starting with where and why.

Where was she?

Why had she gone?

Where was she?

Why was her cell phone off?

Where was she?

Why had he left her alone?

Where was she?!?!

He cursed himself, wondering why he hadn't been worried when he had felt his phone vibrating earlier, while he was hunting the demon. If anything happened to her, it would be all his fault. If she was hurt, or ...

"Are you sure you didn't find anything?" he drove, his eyes on the road, his mind on Rukia.

"No, Ichigo I told you, Momo and I have already checked every room of her house," Rangiku's voice issued from his phone. "And there's no need for you to come over here. There's nothing, no signs of forced entry, nothing's broken, nothing looks as if it was stolen-"

"Besides Rukia!"

"And there's no one else here."

"Did anyone see if she left the hotel, aren't there security cameras there?" he jerked the steeling wheel, turning the car in a sharp U-turn and out of town.

"We can't just check those, besides what would we tell them? _Hello, we need to see all your security footage from today because the owner's sister was kidnapped, from your hotel by someone that should have died years ago. No we are not the police, FBI, CIA, nothing and no we do not have a warrant_.-"

"Matsumoto, Matsumoto … Matsumoto!"

"Sorry Ichigo, but I'm at a loss as to what to do. Momo is half way to hysterics and Gin is out looking for Rukia, fate only knows what the hell could happen to him without me."

Ichigo gritted his teeth, "First, leave Momo for Hitsugaya to worry about, and Gin is old enough take care of himself and Matsumoto since when did you care about breaking a few rules, I don't care how you do it, just find out where she went."

"Sheesh, keep your freaking hair on. I'll see what I can do."

Ichigo parked the car outside his house, "Thanks Matsumoto."

"Ichigo, don't worry, we'll find her."

Ichigo ended the call, throwing his phone into the passenger seat and leaning back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. _Where to go, what was his next step? _He felt that he needed to be doing so much at once, but didn't know where to start.

_Rukia ..._

Ichigo jumped slightly as a knocking sound came from his window. He opened his door, stepping out onto the driveway, "Hell, Aizen, what are you doing?"

"You have a visitor," his brother's mouth was drawn into a frown.

"I don't have time for any _visitors_ right now."

"I think you really want to talk to this visitor though. He may be able to help you find Rukia."

Ichigo stared down at the ground, his mind working a thousand miles a minute, but his body stuck in the present pressing stress of his current situation. "Fine."

"Good, let's go. We don't want to keep our guest waiting." Aizen began a brisk walk towards the house, a worry occuppied Ichigo following.

"Wait, Aizen, how did you know Rukia was missing?"

"Who from the main family doesn't know at this point? She's too important to just leave her rescue to you."

"Important? Hold on, do you know who she really is?"

His elder brother paused at the doorway, his hand and the knob and glanced over his shoulder, "Who she really is?" he paused as if savoring the phrase. He opened the front door, stepping inside, "I have not an idea what you're talking about."

"Aizen, wait dammit," Ichigo strode after his brother's retreating figure, stepping out into the living room. "Aizen-"

"Ichigo Kurosaki right? That's the name you are going by now?"

Ichigo stopped at the sound of the new voice, pivoting quickly to stare at the chair by the fireplace, his eyes widening in recognition, "Byakuya?"

"I would prefer that you don't refer to me by merely my given name alone," Byakuya Kuchiki, in all his regal elegance, stepped towards Ichigo.

"Why are you here?"

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, "I believe Yoruichi told you who I was, so it shouldn't be that strange that I am here."

"Strange?" he felt the temper, which he had recently reigned in, threatening to explode. He wasn't good in tense situations and now the only thoughts plaguing his mind was to get Rukia back, no matter what. "No, I know who you are, but what's strange is that you are here and Rukia is not! Where is she?"

"I don't think you want to know."

Ichigo felt his anger rising. Something was going on, and he wanted to know what, especially if it involved Rukia. "You do know where she is then and if you don't tell me, I will come and beat the answer out of you. You're no longer the Epistle and it wouldn't really matter to me at this point if you were."

Bykuya's eyes dangerously narrowed and he stared at Ichigo with an unreadable look. "She's not at home," he said.

"I already knew that-"

"She's with Nnoitra Jiruga."

Something snapped then, a breaking in self control, sane thought and oppression over feelings of distress.

Ichigo's hands found Byakuya's the front of Byakuya's jacket. "Why is she with him, where is she?!" he practically yelled into the older man's face.

Byakuya struggled momentarily, trying to free himself from Ichigo's grasp, "She will be fine."

"There is no way in fucking hell and a half she will be fine if she's with him. Why are you just sitting here if you know she's with him? What kind of freaking brother are you?"

"I'm not really her brother," Byakuya freed himself from Ichigo grasp and pushed him back.

_Fuck,_ he should have guessed that when he found out who the original Epistle was, but that still didn't change the fact that Rukia was gone. "Then tell me where she is. I'll go and take care of her because your ass doesn't seem to give a damn."

"We can't have you doing that Ichigo." Yoruichi stood against the front door, blocking Ichigo's exit.

"Epistle, what the hell do you mean? I can't go and get Rukia?"

"You want your Virtue don't you?"

"No I want just Rukia!" Ichigo's mind was going through all the possible places Nnoitra could be, as he unconsciously began to pace.

"The choice is not merely yours," Yoruichi's eyes followed Ichigo. "The plan has already been set in motion. By the end of the day, you will have your Virtue and we will have Nnoitra Jiruga."

"What plan?! What the hell is this plan that I keep hearing about?" Ichigo verbally lashed out. "What does Rukia have to do with it? Are you using her? Is she really the next Epistle?"

Yoruichi's movement was so quick, Ichigo didn't have time to react as she reached out and forcefully punched him in the lower stomach. He doubled over, working furiously to catch his breath as he struggled to look up at the Epistle.

"This had to be done. Nnoitra Jiruga is becoming too dangerous. Do not pretend as if you know better than me. I have managed this cursed family through more than you can even imagine."

Ichigo's eyes held bitter thoughts as he finally straightened, his scowl deep, "You may say you're my father, but my real father would let me do what's right. I'm going to get Rukia. Where is she?"

방문자

The sound of dripping water.

Where was it coming from?

Rukia's eyes slowly opened as she searched for the water. Her wrists ached, her attentions were drawn up to gaze with panic at her arms bound above her head.

Her wrists were clasped together with a pair of handcuffs above her head. The handcuff's connecting chain was hung over one of the numerous pipes that ran along the ceiling of the small, deteriorating room.

Her feet barely reached to the ground, her toes supporting most of her weight to ease the strain of the handcuff's cruel metal on the skin of her wrists.

She was in a room with no windows. Grey, stone and metal were all that surrounded her. A single lightbulb flickered over head, a few feet away from the pipe her handcuffs hung on.

_Where am I?_

Her head ached and she felt as if she had been hit over the head.

A flash of terror crossed her mind.

She was hit over the head, she had been hit when she was captured … captured by Nnoitra Jiruga.

_The door's knob had turned before Nnoitra had reached it, and with reflexes like a wild animal he had jumped back, pulling Rukia into a headlock and covering her mouth with one of his hands._

_A blond haired man, an eye patch over one of his eyes, opened the door from the other side, a door key in his hand._

_He spotted Nnoitra and bowed his head, "Are you ready to go?"_

"_Tesla, bastard give me some warning next time," Nnoitra's grip around Rukia's neck loosened and he pushed her in front of him and out the door. "Clean up everything. We don't need to make this look suspicious."_

_"Yes sir."_

_Nnoitra turned Rukia around, "It almost seemed to easy to get the girl, but if this is a trap, I'll just make sure that they won't ever be able to find her."_

_Tesla stared at the tall, freaky proportioned man, unsure of what to say __"Right."_

_"Where's Renji?"_

_"Renji left to go and make sure that Wrath would be occupied for awhile."_

"_Where's little Rukia's "brother"?"_

"_He is locked in the lower room, he's still refusing to cooperate."_

_Rukia felt an ache in her heart, she spoke without even thinking, "Why do you have my brother?"_

_Nnoitra fixed her with a wide smile, "We're planning a celebration of sorts and decided to invite your brother. After all, you are the guest honor."_

_Her stomach felt sick and her gag reflex was quaking. "If you hurt him-"_

"_You're really in no position to make threats," Nnoitra tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, an affectionate gesture lacking in all sentimental feeling. "But we can all talk together later. Well sort of, you see I will be doing most of the talking."_

_He was so vile._

_His grin widened as he pulled from his belt a curving long blade. He waved the sharpened metal in front of her face, enjoying the threatening presence._

_The blade was brought to his mouth and he ran his tongue along knife, "Don't worry Rukia, you'll get your turn soon enough."_

_He spun the blade about in his hand and brought the end of the butt end of the handle to the back of Rukia's head with a resounding crack. He caught her limp form in his arms his devil like grin widening._

"_Night for now princess."_

노이트라 지루가

* * *

_Ack, there we go!_

_Still lot's of questions I'm sure but don't worry, I'm still working on how to get all the answers into the story._


	18. Of Battles and Bribes

_Sorry, updates have been slow partially because:_

_- School started again :(_

_- And I shut a spider in my lap top and was afraid to open it for about a week ...._

_Anyway, chapter up and ready to go!_

_Hekka - Hmm, sorry but I'm guessing you asked if Nnoitra took Byakuya? Yep, Nnoitra was the one that did indeed kidnap Byakuya. And I'll try and make the next chapters a bit longer and thanks for the review :)_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - No sins, virtues, sweepers? Umm, let's just say the world would be taken over completely by demons. If the demons aren't contained, they can take over more humans. Rukia's parents, I have no specific identities for them yet, but a bit about them will be in this chapter. Ichigo did miss his family, but ... there's something on his family (his father at least) in this chapter. Immortal? Yes, they can live forever and ever. One sin, because there was only seven sins to begin with, there were seven sin spirits and only seven. What makes someone is a sin, is because they possess those demons. Sins could dump their virtue, but then their virtue wouldn't be reincarnated again. Virtues can be the Epistle because sins possess the demons and virtues are "virtuous" after all and since they are the "good" half of the pair, they are seen as worthy of becoming the Epistle. Phew, I think I got them all, thanks for the review :)_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord - :) I'm glad you like the drama, thank you for the review!_

_Anna Haruno - Sorry for the long gap in updates :( school happened unfortunately. Hmm, no questions really this time, but yes, Yoruichi and Byakuya have something up their sleeves, but then again, so does Nnoitra. Thank you for the review :)_

_Star133 - Sorry sorry for the short chapter, but I hope this one is long enough! Thanks for the review :)_

_antonia.c - Glad you found and like the story :) Renji will be either in the next chapter, or the one after that ... not quite sure what will go down. Thanks for the review!_

_Hatake Tsughi - Horror? Good that's what I was going for :) glad to know that the writing worked, even though it leaves our heroine in a scary position. Thank you for the review!_

_Song: Everything Changes - Staind_

**Disclaimer:_ I do not in anyway own Bleach or its characters (Or Staind's song)_**

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나의 사랑을 위해

The assembled group stood around, all with the same preoccupation on their minds.

"I don't care if you don't tell me where she is," Ichigo said, "I'm leaving. I'd rather at least try and find her than stand around here with you idiots hoping your little plan works out." He glared at the four other Sins assembled and Epistle as he walked down the driveway towards his car.

"Wrath stop," Hitsugaya held up a hand, "Rukia will be okay, we have already set up the appropriate precautions."

"I don't care what precautions you have, I just can't leave Rukia."

Yoruichi met his eyes with her piercing stare, "If you refuse to peacefully wait, we will have to detain you."

"Che, are you sure you really want to try that?" Ichigo's right arm slowly rose, his hand twitching slightly.

"Ichigo, we're your family," Kenzaki's right hand also wavered towards attack. "You can't betray the Sins."

"If Rukia's my Virtue, then she's also family, right?"

"I don't see a tattoo -"

"Family or not," Yoruichi cut off Kenzaki, "You chose to become a Sin and part of being a Sin is listening to the Epistle. You betray me and I will lock you away. The rest of your life will be spent merely as a Sin, you will lose your human lifestyle, and your sole purpose in life will become only to kill demons."

"That won't work though will it?" Ichigo smirked. "You aren't going to be the Epistle forever."

Hitsugaya and Aizen did not seem surprised by this news, but upon Ichigo's words, Rangiku's head shot up and Kenzaki practically hissed as his eyes narrowed.

"What are you implying Ichigo?" the black of Kenzaki's tattoo was beginning to blur around the edges, melting. "Are you threatening the Epistle?"

"What's wrong Kenzaki, you out of the loop for once? All you need to know is that we won't be taking orders from this older-than-fossils hag, for much longer," Ichigo said, looking at Yoruichi as he spoke. "According to her, there's going to be some big changes around her."

"I see, you chose to believe me then?" Yoruichi's emotions remained hidden, nothing showing in response to Ichigo's words.

"No, I'm just trying to show that your threat is hollow by using your own words against you," Ichigo said. "Even if your threat was carried out, I am still choosing to leave and go find Rukia."

Yoruichi's mouth formed a frown and she looked at Aizen, jerking her head slightly in Ichigo's direction.

Aizen nodded, calmly walking up to his brother.

There seemed to be a momentary still as the group focused their attentions on the two men staring each other down.

A loud clang echoed, as Aizen's sword now stilled, scraped upward against Ichigo's blade. The materialization of both swords had been so quick that even the more experienced of the Sins had had trouble seeing the sword formation and strike.

Ichigo and Aizen jumped apart, standing six feet from each other.

"Envy wait, what are you doing?" Rangiku's sword was out, the handle clasped in her right hand as she stared between the two men, hesitant as to which was in the wrong. "Why are you attacking Ichigo?"

"Because I told him too," Yoruichi was watching calmly as Aizen advanced once again towards Ichigo. "Matsumoto, are you questioning my decisions?"

Rangiku bit her lower lip, but slowly lowered her blade, bowing her head to avoid watching as Aizen slashed at Ichigo.

Ichigo was having troubles. He had sparred the other Sins before, but never in full earnest were the attacks administered. He knew his brother had greater sword skills than him but he would have never guessed that the gap would be as detrimental as it now was.

His arms jarred with each hit, the strikes creating an unpleasant sensation in his arms as his sword reverberated. He held the grip with both hands, doing all he could to block the slashes and jabs directed at him.

A near miss of silver flashed by his head, grazing his blond locks.

"Envy, why are you holding back? It's not like you can kill him," Yoruichi's voice held impatience as she watched the fight before her.

Ichigo's sword wavered as he saw the regret in his adopted brother's eyes. Ichigo only hesitated for a slight moment, lasting less than half a second but proving to be a most damaging mistake. The tip of Aizen's blade easily pierced through the flesh of Ichigo's stomach.

Ichigo came to a halt, disbelief and pain overtaking his senses. The cause of his ache met his gaze as his eyes traveled downward and met the metal that now protruded from his stomach, providing a pathway for the blood to freely flow from his body.

"Aizen, you bastard," Ichigo tried to pull away, but Aizen's hand shot out, gripping the front of Ichigo's shirt and holding him in place.

The blood continued to flow, pooling on the ground below. He was beginning to have troubles focusing; his senses seemed to be fading. Ichigo raised his blade, the edge swinging towards Aizen.

His strike was weak, but it shouldn't matter, Aizen wouldn't be able to hold him with a cut in his throat. The blade didn't meet the desired target, stopping short as Aizen's right hand shot up, stopping the momentum. He didn't even flinch as blood from his hand stained Ichigo's sword. He jerked the sword from Ichigo's hand, throwing it to the ground where it shattered.

Aizen had stopped the blow and disarmed Ichigo is less than a second, his injured hand immediately returning to grip the handle of his blade still lodged in younger man's stomach. Aizen twisted the blade, the damage refreshing the dwindling flow of blood.

Ichigo's cries remained contained, his teeth ground together as he tasted metal in his mouth.

Yes, his body could heal, but the wound would remain open for however long Aizen's sword kept tearing away at his flesh.

The blood loss was too much, he couldn't focus anymore, he couldn't think anymore.

_Shit_

His body slumped as his yes clouded over.

_Rukia_

Ichigo's body became limp, Aizen caught his falling form. With a disturbing noise, the blade exited Ichigo's stomach, a stream of blood following in its wake.

"Is he out?" Yoruichi said, referring to Ichigo.

Aizen nodded, his blade falling from his hand.

_"That's what you think."_

All heads froze, eyes locked onto Ichigo's bowed head.

"Did he-"

Ichigo's head slowly raised, blank eyes meeting his family. _"Ah, it's been too long."_

"The Wrath Sin," Aizen jumped away from him, Hitsugaya and Kenzaki rushing forward to stand by his side.

"His Sin has taken over," Hitsugaya's tattoo melted and a sword appeared in his hand.

_"Ah, what the hell did you do to me?_" came from Ichigo's mouth. His blank eyes looked down to the still bleeding stomach wound. _"Shit, I come back after five hundred years and my body is trashed."_

"Wrath," Yoruichi's voice slightly quivered. "You're the Sin right now, aren't you?"

Ichigo's head cocked to the side, a sagging grin appearing on his face. _"Yeah, the human is taking a little nap right now so, I get to come out and play. But hell, what did you do to me 'pistle?"_

"Return to your bindings now!"

_"No, no, not yet,_" the mocking voice issued from Ichigo's mouth. _"Ever since that Kuchiki bastard started sealed me away in a human body, I've only been able to come out ever once in awhile, which is not enough time for me."_

"Too bad," Yoruichi eyed the now healing wound on Ichigo's stomach and nodded her head at the other Sins. Kenzaki, Aizen and Hitsugaya stepped forward.

"Matsumoto protect the Epistle," Hitsugaya said, his eyes never leaving Ichigo.

_"Oh, Pride, long time no see,"_ Wrath said, as a sword materialized.

"Shut up, it's time to put you back to sleep."

Their blades met with a fierce clash and cackling ensued from Ichigo.

_"Not likely."_

Hitsugaya's blade was blocked and Ichigo's fist made contact with white haired boy's chin, knocking him backwards. Kenzaki rushed forward and his blade collided with the metal of Ichigo's. The creepy laughter from Ichigo continued as he blocked every one of the attacks Kenzaki directed towards him. Kenzaki staggered backwards, clutching a freshly flowing wound on his shoulder.

"Move," Hitsugaya and Aizen pressed past Kenzaki, both raining down strikes on Ichigo. All the attacks were deterred by the opposing blade and Ichigo jumped back, distancing himself from the other two.

_"Not bad, but still with two on one, I'm not impressed,"_ was heard from Ichigo. _"Why don't all three of you come at me?"_

The three looked at each other and Aizen jerked his head to the left. Kenzaki nodded and Hitsugaya charged Ichigo.

_"Was there some planning going on there?" _Ichigo cackled as he blocked Hitsugaya's sword and shoved him backwards. The sharp tip of his blade danced around Hitsugaya's head. Hitsugaya ducked and Aizen sword swung over his head, whizzing past Ichigo's face as he leaned back, performing a back flip and landing upright on his feet. _"That was close wasn't it Envy?"_

"Stop right there," Kenzaki's blade was pointed at Ichigo's back.

_"What do you think you're doing?"_ Ichigo's head tilted back, _"I'm immortal remember."_

"Well, it will still take you a while to regrow your leg at least," Kenzaki's blade flashed and scarlet blood splattered the asphalt below. "Damn, missed."

_"Not quite Sloth,"_ Ichigo's unnatural smile was still in place despite the large cut across the back of his leg. _"Come on, what else do you got? What about you, original sin?"_

"Bastard," Hitsugaya's hands tightened around the grip of his sword. His movement was so quick, Ichigo barely had time to block, his smile slightly faltering as he struggled to keep the edge of his own sword from being pressed against his neck by Hitsugaya.

Kenzaki slowly inched forward, his eyes stilled with anticipation. Without warning he raised his sword above his head, bringing it down where Ichigo had been standing less than a second before.

"Damn, how does he keep avoiding my hits," Kenzaki cursed.

_"A bit better I suppose," _Ichigo taunted, standing a safe distance away. He raised his own blade, taking a slow step forward, before he charged Kenzaki. Their blades locked and Ichigo's leg shot out, kicking Kenzaki backwards. He stumbled back, Ichigo chasing after as he stabbed forward and his blade pierced Kenzaki's shoulder.

A stream of blood flew from Kenzaki's shoulder as the blade was withdrawn and Kenzaki's jumped away, gripping his shoulder, his breathing becoming heavier as Aizen became to stand between him and Ichigo.

_"It's just no fun fighting immortals,"_ Ichigo sighed. _"There's no thrill with a kill."_

Aizen and Hitsugaya eyed the crazed man, each formulating their own plan.

Before either side could re-enter battle, there was a sigh from behind Ichigo, "That's quite enough Wrath."

_"Wha-"_ a hand shot out and gripped Ichigo's right wrist, the pale thumb pressing into the tattoo. _"It's you, Kuchiki."_ There was nothing but hatred on Ichigo's face. His features were twisted into a look of pure fury as he stared at the steely-eyed man.

"Time to return," Byakuya's voice was cold and he added pressure to the grip he had.

Ichigo hissed, his face contorting even more in pain. _"I'll return Kuchiki. No doubt about that."_

His body became limp and Byakuya held out his arm, Ichigo falling against it. "Here," Byakuya looked at Aizen and pushed the passed out man towards him. "We don't have time for this," Byakuya shook his head, turning on heel and walking down the long driveway, "I have a bad feeling about our plan."

Yoruichi and the four Sins gazed followed him.

"Take care of him Envy," Yoruichi spun around, heading towards the house. "Then lock him up."

Aizen's eyes were shadowed with uncertainty as he nodded. Matsumoto rushed to Ichigo's side, helping Aizen to half carry Ichigo towards the house. "He's lost so much blood."

Hitsugaya and Kenzaki stared after, looks of doubt across their faces.

의혹

"Boo."

Rukia recoiled, her retreat stopped as her wrists throbbed in resistance to the pressure she placed on raw skin being rubbed by the metal cuffs.

"This dress looks so lovely on you," Nnoitra tugged on the short sleeve of the loose white dress she now wore. "I'm glad you changed so willingly for me, don't know why you didn't want my help."

Nnoitra cackled in glee, leaning down, a chain around his neck swung forward and a key dangled in front of Rukia's face. He looked down at her, watching her eye the key. "I bet you'd like this key," he held up the piece of metal. "It does, after all, open your cuffs."

He cackled, patting the key against his chest, and letting out a loud sigh, his putrid breath bathing her face, "Looks like we'll have to postpone our little get together I had planned, seeing as how one of our guests is missing."

_But the only people he said were coming to the meeting was me, him and ..._

Rukia's gut clenched, "Wh-who's missing? What did you do to my brother?"

"You answer some of my questions then we can talk about your brother."

_What questions?_

Rukia's heart rate increased in panic. "F-fine."

Nnoitra rubbed his chin in fake pondering. "I've heard that you are a member of the family."

"What family?"

"You know which one, pet. But what are you? You're not a Sin, because there's already seven of them," there was amusement in his voice, he knew something and was just teasing her now. "Are you a Virtue I wonder? Or maybe …"

His hand snaked out and he ran a pale finger down the side face, from temple to chin. Rukia's skin cringed and she recoiled from his touch. Nnoitra's grin widened.

"So, why don't you tell me who you are then?"

_Does he know, does he know that I'm the next Epistle?_

_And what will he do if he doesn't know and I tell him ..._

Rukia remained silent much to Nnoitra's displeasure. His smile slightly lowered, his hand shot out, his palm pressing over Rukia's mouth. "My, my, we aren't very talkative right now, are we?"

The grip of his hand tightened over her mouth, his fingertips digging into her cheek. "I know a lot more than you may think. I've waited for sixteen years for your powers to appear. But I'm still waiting."

With his other hand, he reached up, placing his hand over one of her own-cuffed hands, "Still no tattoo." His fingers encircled her middle finger, "Too bad, if you aren't a Virtue, then you can't very well become the Epistle now can you?"

_He knows, he knows, but how?_

"We can change that though, can't we?" He jerked her finger, a popping noise echoing in the room. Rukia screamed, her yell muffled by his hand. Her muffled cries continued as he moved onto her next finger, repeating the same motion. Her body convulsed in pain, "No worries," he was on her third finger. "They're not broken, only dislocated."

Rukia's body was shaking uncontrollably and tears were streaking down her cheeks. He stopped, his hand poised above her pinky finger. "Rukia, why the sad face?" The pleasure in his voice wasn't at all hidden. The hand over her mouth finally lowered and a loud sob escaped Rukia's mouth. "There, there," Nnoitra's mouth creeped up into a grin, "I won't do that anymore, but how about you beg me?"

Rukia's breath was heavy and she wheezed with difficulty. Her hand ached with and burned in agony as her pain receptors continuously fired.

His detestable fingers reached up, his palm resting on her cheek. "Still not talking huh?" His thumb ran across her bottom lip, "So stubborn." He pressed her lip hard, pushing the skin onto her lower teeth. She tasted blood as she felt the pain in her inner mouth.

With a gliding motion, his hands made their way down, resting at the bottom hem of her dress, mid-thigh. His hands began to circles her thighs, drawing small circles on her pale skin.

The pain of her hands and wrists was forgotten as his hands crept up. Rukia's lower lip trembled, and Nnoitra's visible eye narrowed in glee. His nose lowered to her hair and he inhaled deeply. "Ah, so what shall we do now?"

"S-stop, please," Rukia's voice croaked. "Please."

"Why don't we make a deal then?"

Rukia raised her head, "What deal?"

"I want you to do something for me. Something for me after you become a Virtue."

"What if I never become a Virtue?"

"Pet, don't worry, I know you'll become a Virtue after all, only Virtues can become the Epistle." He leaned lower, his mouth beside her ear, "So, will you do me a favor?"

She dreaded asking, "Wh-what?"

"Well," his hands continued to rub her legs, "Whoever your Sin is, whoever it turns out to be, I want you to kill him."

무서운

"Kurosaki, wake up."

Ichigo rubbed his head. _What's going on? What was I doing …_

_Rukia!_

He shot up in bed, his head immediately throbbing. He struggled from underneath the white covers, a bit surprised that he was now clad in white scrubs. _Shit, why am I in Envy's medical ward?_

He stumbled from the bed, falling on the ground. "Come on, come on," he grumbled, slamming his fist on the ground.

"Kurosaki."

Ichigo raised his head slightly, looking at the shined polished shoes before him. His gaze traveled upward and he met the eyes of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Bastard, why are you here?" With difficulty, Ichigo placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself up and onto his feet. He swayed and clapped his hand to his head as his vision blurred.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Byakuya said. "I need your help."

Despite how crappy he felt, Ichigo still couldn't help but scoff. "Why should I help you? Now, out of my way, I'm going to rescue Rukia."

"That's what I want to talk about."

"I'm not going to just sit here-"

"Which is why, I'm going to help you."

Ichigo froze and he turned his head to look at the solemn man. "Why help me? Why don't you go yourself?"

"I can no longer beat Nnoitra, the only one that can kill the sweeper is another sweeper, the Epistle," he looked at Ichigo, "or a Sin."

"So, why are you helping me now?"

"I'm unsure if my agent I've placed there will be strongest enough to defeat Nnoitra …" he paused, as if there was more to say.

"Any other reason?" Ichigo nudged.

Byakuya fixed him with a steely gaze, "No, now, leave. I will keep Yoruichi and the other distracted while you leave."

"Why can't you just tell them that you're allowing it?"

Ichigo was amazed as he saw what could almost be considered a slight smile cross Byakuya's lips. "I'm no longer the Epistle. I'm just a mortal now."

예상치 않은 도움

Rukia stared at the floor, trying to now think of Nnoitra's touch on her legs.

"I'm waiting."

_Kill my virtue? Kill … Ichigo_

_Could I kill …_

She sucked in a breath, "N-no."

Nnoitra's creepy smile faltered, "What was that?"

Rukia took another deep breath, "I said no."

His hand shot out, and her cheek stung as his palm smacked across her cheek. "That didn't sound right. Now, what do you say?"

"No."

His nails dug into her upper leg, and she choked back a cry. She felt the skin break and blood oozed from the gashes.

"Rukia, my little pet, do you know who your brother really is?"

She clenched her eyes shut, trying to ignore the pains of her body.

_What is he asking now? What about his other question?_

"Rukia, your brother, do you suppose he's your actual brother? I mean blood brother?"

Rukia felt her eyes quiver, "Wh-what?"

"He's the original after all," he smirked. "It's just doesn't seem possible that he's your brother. Don't be so surprised Rukia," he said watching her eyes widen.

_So, he even knew about Byakuya being the first Epistle too._

"Did he ever tell you what happened to your parents? Well, did he?"

Rukia refused to meet his gaze, her body shaking and her fingers throbbing. A sense of foreboding seemed to hang over whatever words he would speak next.

"Byakuya Kuchiki is over two thousand years old. He is the original Epistle. That man is the one that captured the Sins and bound them into humans. He was a god that stupidly chose to become mortal when he fell in love."

Nnoitra threw his head back laughing, "But not long after he became mortal, his love, she was overtaken by a Ira demon. Byakuya sought the spirit of the Wrath demon for help, but the demon refused to kill the demon. Byakuya had to watch his love, lose her mind and die. In revenge, Byakuya captured the seven Sins and bound them all to a human soul that they could not overtake and not escape. He captured all of them, so to prevent the suffering he had experienced. They became his servants. But the part that actually pertains to your parents ..." Nnoitra's face was fixed in an expression of mock sympathy.

"Byakuya also created the sweepers. He gave them their power, because of him, people became able to modify memories. People worldwide, all sorts of people. Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Urahara, Kurosaki's father, me," he paused, making sure that Rukia was listening to his every word, "And your parents."

Rukia's mind, recently stuck on the words 'Kurosaki's father' shifted attention as Nnoitra spoke the last words.

_My parents?_

_My parents were sweepers? Did they know that I was the next Epistle? If they were sweepers, why are they dead? Aren't they immortal?_

Nnoitra watched her mind turning, a smile of sick enjoyment on his face. "Sweepers are immortal right? So, why are your parents dead?"

_My parents, why are they dead?_

_Why don't I remember them?_

"Your father, was my sweeper partner for awhile," Nnoitra said. "Then he met your mother. They served as sweepers together for a while but then foolishly decided to become mortal. Then bang, boom, bam, you were born."

His eyes ran over his face, his gaze causing her as much pain as his nails had. "When the current Epistle became aware of what you were, she restored your parents memories and ordered them to protect you. They really didn't mind, they loved you after all," he said the word ins disgust, "but they were nervous and moved out here from Italy, to Japan."

He rubbed his hands together, as if in great anticipation, "They weren't happy when I visited for some reason. Something about them hearing that I had gone renegade," he slapped his hand to his forehead in fake exasperation. "Too bad, if only they had listened. If only they had just handed you over when I asked, then I wouldn't have had to …"

He lowered his face closer to hers, "kill them."

부모

* * *

_There we go, hope this chapter provided a very creepy Nnoitra._


	19. Of Restoration and Rescue

_Chapter .... 19 :) So close to twenty but not quite there ... just like the story is so close to ending but it feels like there are still quite a few loose ends to tie up._

_But ENJOY!_

_xleger sourirex - Ooooh thanks for explaining and the x is a nice placement :) Thanks for the review too!_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Hmm, Nnoitra was someone that I can't reveal yet :( but his past life will be revealed when his accomplice is. Byakuya was a god before he became the Epistle. He was an immortal god that became mortal when he fell in love. His powers are from when he was a god. Demons are created by the "darkness" in people's hearts. Byakuya's lover ... I don't really like Hisana, but yes it's someone like her. Thanks for the review :)_

_Camilla. Shinigami - I'm glad you like the way I have Nnoitra, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make him evil enough to be the bad guy of the whole story. Thank you for the review!_

_Hatake Tsughi - Action packed and well written! Such wonderful words and a spirit lifter :) thank you for your review!_

_mamoru-usa8 - Read it all in one night?!?! Amazing :) and I'm glad you liked. Thanks for your review!_

_Anna Haruno - You are correcto on Rukia's memories and I think it's talked about in this chapter and Ukitake is also mentioned in this chapter too. Nnoitra wants Rukia to kill her sin, because only virtues can kill sins and the more sins killed, the more the demons are free to cause chaos. Rukia's memories I will also talk a bit more about later. Thanks for the review :)_

_Yuki no Ryuu-Ryuuki - I was worried that the chapter would be too actiony and felt there was a quite a bit of it going on in it too, but I hope it didn't overwhelm. I like your description "Rukia's there one minute then BAM" Thanks you for the review, both of them!_

_TsugiNoMai - Man all these super people that read my story at one time, I don't know how you do it, I can never focus my attentions for that long! You are one super duper reader :) and I'm so happy that you recommended the story (is Dissonencia Serenidad the friend you recommended the story to?) Thanks for the review :)_

_Dissonencia Serenidad - I'm glad you like the story :) your review creates the trademark dorky grin of happy for me. Thank you for the review!_

_Song: If - Jun Hye Bin_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach (and the song of course)

* * *

심혼의 원하기

Rukia's heart was working over time, the blood pumping through arteries and veins in an attempt to prevent fainting due to hyperventilation.

Was this how she knew Nnoitra? Did she know him through her parents? But how could that be?

_I don't remember anything of my own parents, but instead I feel this sense of familiarity to this sicko?_

Nnoitra stroked the top of Rukia's head as if still deep in thought. "Yes, I had to kill them because they tried to stop me from taking you. It was a foolish death they were no longer immortals. Foolish on their part because they made me waste my time chasing down and killing them instead of taking you and running."

He reached out with both hands, gripping her by the head, "I was so close then, but that damn Ukitake had to come and stop me. He was the only sweeper I could never truly fool; he always seemed to be one step ahead. Because of him, I had to wait sixteen years until I was finally able to get ahold of you again."

"And then they even went and did a memory modification on you! You didn't even recognize me when I saw you at that brat's house. That memory wipe, the family finally made a move that was advantageous to me. You didn't fear me so it was easier for me to catch you!"

_No fear! No, the feelings of fear you caused me were there, though, at the same time so was Ichigo. But now …_

Nnoitra was laughing again, the vibrations from his laughter shaking down his arms and joggling her head. "And now I've got you! You're mine and once I figure out how to do it, I will be able to take the powers of the Epistle for myself and when that happens I will force Byakuya Kuchiki to release all the Sins from their human bindings."

Rukia's whole being was shaking, physically, mentally. Her body shook with fear and her mind quaked with what Nnoitra was revealing to her. He wanted the Epistle's power, that was what he had been after all along.

What would releasing the demons cause?

"Ah and once the demons are released," Nnoitra seemed to be in a question appeasing mood, Rukia hadn't even had to ask aloud. "No one will be safe from having their souls taken over. Everyone will become a slave to his or her demon. And I will rule over them all!"

_He's crazy, he is absolutely psycho, insane, what do I do …_

_Ichigo_

광산

"Get in," Byakuya roughly shoved Ichigo into the driver's seat of a car.

"But what about my car?"

"We can't get to it. Yoruichi really doesn't want you to interfere."

"But why is she so against-"

"She is tired of being the Epistle and believes that Nnoitra will force Rukia's Virtue out. The sooner the Virtue appears, the sooner Yoruichi is relieved of her Epistle duties."

Ichigo's mind was spinning in anger and disbelief. Anger that Yoruichi would put Rukia in danger like that and disbelief that this whole plan was based on selfishness.

Ichigo's vision was momentarily blocked as a blurred blob flew from Byakuya's hands and smacked him in the face. "I talked to Hitsugaya and he got you some clothes."

Despite the urge Ichigo felt to go and beat the crap out of Nnoitra and the Epistle, he was intrigued by Byakuya's last comment. He looked down at the small bundle now in his lap, "Hitsugaya did? Does that mean he knows?"

Byakuya nodded, reaching out and slamming the car door shut, almost smashing Ichigo's legs in the process. "Go to this address," he handed him a piece of paper through the open window. "Rukia is being held in the basement in the southern most room. My subordinate is still there, you should recognize him when you see him."

"Byakuya thanks," Ichigo reached out and turned the key in the ignition. He glanced down at the address in his hand, "The Hilton Hotel?"

구조자

"Now, how to get your Virtue to appear," Nnoitra still had his hands clamped about her head. "Right, right. You need to be unconscious for a period of time after your little life-threatening experience? God, these Virtues and all their damn requirements."

He released her, her head throbbing from where his hands had been. "I think we've had enough of endangering your life, now we need to knock you out for a quick nap, then wait for that damn tattoo to appear."

He had the key in his hand, swinging it about by the chain, "I guess I'll have to bash your head somehow, but seeing as how I don't have a baseball bat or crow bar, I'll just uncuff you for now and smash your head against the floor."

There was a clicking noise, the cocking of a gun and Nnoitra froze, dropping the key from his hand in shock. Rukia lifted her head, surprised at the look of anger that had taken over Nnoitra's face.

"I think we've had quite enough of your violence for now."

Rukia's mind balked, there was another voice, someone else that she knew she had met before.

A tall red-haired man, sporting multitudes of black tattoos, stepped out from behind Nnoitra, a gun in his hand, the tip pointing at Nnoitra's head. "Sorry Nnoitra, but I think I'll be taking Kuchiki from here on out."

"Abarai," Nnoitra spat, "are you betraying me?"

The man laughed, "No, my loyalty was never yours to begin with."

Nnoitra eyed the gun; "You know you can't kill me with that?"

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong. I'm not just any freelance assassin, I also happen to be a sweeper."

An angry hiss issued from Nnoitra's mouth, "You lied to me! You told me you didn't know anything of the sweepers, or Sins of that whole damn family!"

"It's your own fault. If we had known each other long enough you might have noticed that I never appeared to age, but since we hardly ever met face to face you failed to notice my actual appearance stability."

Nnoitra was beyond angry, the veins of his forehead stood out, Rukia could practically see the blood pounding through them.

"Nnoitra, you've lost."

The situation made Rukia uncomfortable. It almost seemed too easy that Nnoitra would merely be stopped in a moment of less than a minute after he had been working on his plan for more than sixteen years.

There was a thundering of steps from above and the sounds of something resembling bodies hitting the floor.

The cocky grin was creeping onto Nnoitra's face. "Renji, I wonder, just what did you do with Tesla?"

Renji's eyes narrowed, "Tesla-"

"Is dead."

A foot pushed the door open and Tesla's body slumped, face down on the floor of the room.

"Hello, Nnoitra," a grinning Ichigo said, stepping over the body. His grin may have been in place but there were no friendly presumptions to be made from his expression. Ichigo's eyes only promised destruction to whatever got in his way. His anger had been contained for too long and now sought an outlet. "Nnoitra, I thought I told you to never appear before her again."

He held a pure black sword in his hand and from its tip, a small pool of blood formed, made from the drips of crimson liquid cascading from the blade.

Rukia's throat had tightened upon seeing him and the palpations of her heart quickened. The moisture in her eyes increased and she felt her lower lip begin to tremble. "I-ichi-"

Ichigo's head slowly turned in her direction, his eyes meeting her first. Rukia inhaled sharply as his chocolate irises met her violets. She made an unconscious movement to go to him, her body moving of it's own accord. She wanted him to hold her, to tell her everything was ok now, to promise that they would always be together. The steeled over anger in his eyes softened and he sought assurance that she was okay.

"What the hell Wrath why are you here?" Renji interjected into this silence, glaring at Ichigo. "I was just about to kill Nnoitra's piece of trash ass then you show up and try to steal my thunder."

Ichigo ignored Renji, trying to get past him and make his way to Rukia. "I was not going to anything like that! And what thunder, you look pretty lame just standing there with a gun. What too unmanly to use a sword?"

"Why are you here?" Renji put out his arm, Ichigo's chest running into it and his movement coming to a halt.

Ichigo exhaled loudly and slowly turned his head to look at the man stopping him from reaching Rukia. "I only came for Rukia. You should be grateful that I'm here."

"Grateful, hell no! You here makes it seem like the family thinks me incapable to handle this alone."

"Well, considering Rukia is still chained up and bleeding from her wrists I'd say you are pretty much worthless."

"Why you-"

The pair had each other by the front of their shirts, Ichigo's free hand on his sword and Renji's still keeping the gun pointing to the back of Nnoitra's head.

Rukia's eyes reluctantly moved from Ichigo and trailed down to Nnoitra, who was smiling.

Nnoitra's muscles tensed and he whipped about, catching both off guard and swiping the gun from Renji's hand.

He was gone before either of Rukia's would-be-rescuers could re-right themselves.

"Shit!" Renji pushed Ichigo out of his way and catapulted out the door.

"How the hell-" Ichigo had scrambled to his feet and was in full pursuit mode but stopped in the doorway. He shook his head, "revenge can wait," he mumbled. He bent down and picked up something from the floor.

_The key._

"Rukia," he was standing right before her, his comforting scent hovering about him. He placed his sword on the ground and reached up, placing the key into the cuff and releasing the shackles from about her wrists.

Her body, weak from stress and fatigue sagged. Ichigo's hands shot out and he caught her, kneeling down.

"Rukia," his voice came out barely above a whisper. His eyebrows were knit with worry and he took her hands into his, his focus on her wrists. He rubbed the tender skin with cautious fingers and immediately pulled away when he saw her wince.

"I'm so sorry," the sadness in his voice hurt her. His head was bowed and he held onto her upper arms.

Rukia placed her hands on either side of his face, careful to avoid using her injured fingers, "Ichigo," she forcefully pulled his head up and brought his lips to hers in a needy kiss.

He tried to pull back, only managing to minutely free his mouth from hers, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

She pulled him back for another kiss, nuzzling closer to his chest. His hands were gliding up and his hands intertwined their way into her raven locks. He groaned and gently placed his hand on her head and pulled her away from him.

"That's was a lot better than I remembered," his voice came out barely above that of a whisper, but he sounded pleased. "Don't tell me you've secretly been practicing with someone else."

"Yeah," Rukia couldn't help but smile now that she was back with him and rolled her eyes, "because the only person I've been spending good ol' quality time with lately was Nnoitra."

_Nnoitra ..._

Her stomach still twisted at the thought of him and her nerves refused to calm, even though she was once again with Ichigo.

Ichigo's face fell at the mention of the name, and he got to his feet, pulling Rukia up with him. "Can you walk?" he reached out, taking her right hand in his. He recoiled, as if in pain himself when Rukia flinched, the slight pressure on her injured fingers, causing her a wave of ache.

"What happened here?" he slowly reached out and took her hand.

"I think I dislocated a few fingers."

His mouth formed a thin line of displeasure, "I'm sure you're not the one that did this."

"Well-"

Ichigo held up his hand, his attentions elsewhere as Rukia strained to hear whatever he was listening to. There was the familiar sound of steps and a second later, Renji appeared, out of breath and angry.

"That bastard," he struggled to catch his breath, "got away."

"What?" Ichigo's anger seemed to fill the room, "How did you let him get away?"

Renji stared at Ichigo, a wary look on his face, "Like you could have-"

"I could have and I will," Ichigo struck out and punched Renji square in the jaw, knocking the man back. "Of all the bullshit ..."

He bent down, his sword in his hand once again. "Rukia, get out of here. I'm going to kill that bastard. Renji, you let anything happen to her, and there's nowhere you will be able to escape from me."

Renji was groaning on the ground and Rukia was trying her best not to cry out in desperation to beg Ichigo not to leave her again.

"I'm not kidding, you better stay safe," Ichigo leaned forward, placing his lips on Rukia's momentarily before he pulled back. "Take care little one."

Rukia reached out to him, her hand grasping onto air, "But-"

He was gone, the fury emitting from him still tensing the air.

"Shit, that asshole did he forget whose side I'm on," Renji was rubbing his chin, glaring daggers in the direction Ichigo had gone. "I'm going to kill him … somehow."

_Be safe, Ichigo._

Rukia's attentions shifted from the door that Ichigo had departed and she slowly walked towards the angry, red-haired man, stopping a few feet from him. "Ummm?"

"Making me look bad, he is so dead … somehow."

"Um?" Rukia reached out slowly with her uninjured hand, stopping short of touching him.

"That jerk is going down, I'm going to put him six feet under … somehow."

"Hello," Rukia said loudly, even surprising herself at her anger.

"Oh, sorry, right, right." Renji said as if realizing that there was a witness there for his rantings of pre-contemplative murder. He heaved a deep sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, let's get going Miss Kuchiki."

"It's Rukia," she raised an eyebrow, "but what about Ichigo?"

"He'll be fine. He's probably the safest out of-" Renji stopped midsentence, his eyes widened in shock as he looked down to his chest. He gagged and blood from his mouth coated his chin. A blade, stained in red, protruded from his chest and blood poured freely from the wound. He dropped to his knees, grimacing as the blade disappeared and a stream of blood shot from the gash.

He turned with difficulty, breathing with arduous effort as he gasped at the figure above him. "Nnoitra."

"Yes, you are right traitor. Wrath _is_ most likely the safest person now because he isn't in the same room as me."

Rukia slowly began backing away, her knees giving out as she fell into a sitting position. "What did you do to Ichigo?"

"Nothing, but now to finish what I started." He stepped over Renji, kicking aside Renji's weakened attempt to stop him.

Rukia's scooted backwards, her hands scrambling across the ground. Her hand made contact with a piece of metal as Nnoitra's hands wrapped about her neck. He pulled her up, shaking her bodily.

Rukia didn't even think, her left hand tightened around the object in her hand, it was the key from the handcuffs. With all the effort she had left, she used the energy and thrust forward. The blade of the key drove forward and Rukia's own body flinched as she felt the blunt metal puncture the cartilage of his trachea.

Nnoitra's hands immediately released her and she fell to the ground, her weight landing on her injured hand. Rukia cried out, pulling her hand up to cradle at her chest.

Nnoitra reached up, wheezing and attempted to dislodge the key from his throat.

Rukia scooted back, crawling away from him, her eyes wide in fear.

Nnoitra's eyes were filled with hate as his body began to shake. He struggled with the key as the cells of his body surrounding the key entered into inflammation and tightened around the metal. With each palpitation of his heart, more blood flowed from his body.

He clenched his teeth and with a convulsion of pain, he tore from his throat, the key that had been Rukia's weapon.

_No, I can't kill him. _Rukia's eyes darted around as she looked for something, anything to help her.

She heard the rasping above her and Nnoitra's hand was smashed against the top of her head. His eyes were livid and the blood continued to pour down his front.

"I thought I told you to never appear before her again."

Nnoitra's hand fell from her head and reached up to clasp the nub that had been his arm. More blood splashed onto the floor as Nnoitra struggled to keep upright.

"Ichigo," Rukia breathed, as he kicked Nnoitra over.

Ichigo grabbed Rukia by her wrist and pulled her flush up against him.

"Nnoitra," Ichigo's voice was grim. Ichigo's sword was rising, making its way to the side of Nnoitra's already injured throat.

"Wrath, that's quite enough." A dark hand stopped the black blade. Yoruichi pulled Ichigo's sword from his hand and she threw it to the side, the metal shattering into nothingness. "I'll take over now."

"Epistle?"

Yoruichi looked at him, the livid anger flaring from her eyes. "And why are you here Ichigo?"

Ichigo's own heated glare met hers, his eyes unwavering, "Because you couldn't do your job properly. You're the leader of our family, thus should be the one protecting our family."

Yoruichi, without the slight bit of hesitation, backhanded Ichigo, the resounding contact jolting Rukia. "I'll deal with you later. You better take care of Rukia."

With little apparent effort, Yoruichi reached down, picking up the now passed out Nnoitra and pulling the arm he had left over her shoulders. Gin and Aizen entered the room, Aizen going over to place his finger tips against Renji's throat, checking for a pulse.

Yoruichi shoved past them, "Envy, Temperance, take care of Renji. When you're done here, tell Gluttony to burn the place down."

재결합하는

Rukia's eyes fluttered, and she inhaled deeply, reaching up her arms to stretch. There was a comforting scent of cinnamon in the air and she slowly opened her eyes. A white ceiling met her gaze and she reached up, rubbing her eyes.

Rough material scratched her face and she pulled her hand back to look at her bandaged hand. "What?"

"So, finally awake?"

Rukia looked to her side, smiling when Ichigo's eyes met her gaze. He smirked at her and reached out a hand, placing it over her uninjured one.

"I've been having to beat off all the perverts of the family from creeping in here and trying to kiss you. They keep talking about some 'Sleeping Beauty' bull crap."

Rukia sat up, careful to keep the weight off her right hand. "What happened?"

He stared at her, a depression threatening to creep into his eyes. "I brought you to my house and let Envy treat you. He had to put your fingers back into place and he cleaned all the scratches. Nothing was broken-"

"Thank you Ichigo."

He stopped, his head hung, "No, I shouldn't have even let this happen to you in the first place."

Rukia shook her head, lightly reaching out to swat his blond locks, "But how could your have known? I'm fine, I'll heal and now we've been able to capture Nnoitra."

"But-"

She placed her free hand over his mouth, "Thank you. End of discussion."

"Ruk-"

"By the way, I was wondering," she looked down at her right hand.

He sighed in mock defeat, "Yes?" he pulled her hand down from his mouth.

"Well, that is … do I have a, well, tattoo?"

Ichigo scoffed, a smile on his face again. "That's what you're really wandering about? You don't care about what happened to Nnoitra, or Renji, or why my family has lied to you for so long …"

It seemed that he had been needing some time to rant for awhile, but Rukia was tired of waiting, "Um, Ichigo?"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just a bit on edge, but yes, you did in fact have a tattoo appear on you right finger."

Rukia couldn't help but feel the grin appear on her face. "I have a tattoo? A virtue tattoo?" She started to pull on the bandages around her right hand.

"We can wait till later," Ichigo stopped her attempts at unwrapping her wrist.

"But I want to see it now."

"You don't trust me?"

"No, but I want to see …"

He kept his hands over hers, "You want to see who's Virtue you are, right?"

Rukia didn't look at him, avoiding the smirk she knew he most likely wore. "Am I that obvious?"

"No, I just know you well. But your tattoo," his face fell. "I guess I should tell you."

Rukia felt a feeling of unease, "Tell me … what?"

_Am I not his virtue?_

"Your tattoo," he leaned in closer to her, indicating that she needed to lend her ear, "it's a ... secret."

"Secret …" Rukia blinked twice, repeating the word as the meaning came to her. "Secret?" she almost shrieked.

_He tricked me, he built up the anticipation and ..._

Ichigo was laughing, still keeping the firm grip he had on her hand. "Yep, I think I'll let you ponder it."

"You know don't you?" she pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You're a jerk."

"But it's fun to watch you get angry."

There was a loud and very noticeable cough from the other side of the room and Rukia turned to look down the row of beds. Renji Abarai was laying, three beds from hers, with a rather awkward look on his face.

"Renji?" Rukia was surprised that she hadn't noticed him before this.

"You two are going to make me barf from all the iodiocracy," Renji pointed at Rukia, "And of course you're Ichigo's Virtue. Your stinking tattoo is the Patience tattoo."

"Idiocracy?" Ichigo got to his feet.

"Patience?" Rukia felt her smile return.

Renji shook his head, "Yeah, your little argument of 'love' is driving me insane, I'm trying to mend here."

"I'll help you mend." Ichigo was cracking his knuckles and Rukia put a hand up, stopping Ichigo.

"So, I am your virtue, for sure?"

Ichigo sat back down on the side of her bed, his arms crossed and a slight scowl on his face. "Yes, did you really need proof?"

"Well, it is nice to have that assurance."

"Assurance or not," he pressed his forehead against hers, "All we need to know is our feelings for each other."

Renji scoffed, "God you two are corny!"

"That's it Renji!"

"Ichigo!"

보험

Yoruichi rubbed her head, feeling the twinge of annoyance increase. "Nnoitra, I'm telling you to reveal to me whoever it was that you had on the inside."

Nnoitra looked at her from behind his black eye. His arm was bandaged and a large piece of gauze was taped across his throat. "I didn't have anyone on the inside," he managed to wheeze out.

"I know you had someone!" Yoruichi slammed her fist on the table between them. "Tell me!"

"I work alone."

Urahara stepped out from the shadows; "We know that you had an informant on the inside that was working with you. What we just want to know is who it is."

"If you tell us," Yoruichi continued, "I promise that we won't let Ichigo in here to kick your ass."

Nnoitra tried to laugh, his face contorting in pain as he reached up with his cuffed hands to rub his throat. "Bite me."

밀고자

Byakuya stood in the doorway, watching Ichigo and Rukia. He felt the threat of a smile on his lips and cleared his throat, setting his face back into an impassive look as he stepped into the room.

"Rukia, are you feeling better?"

"B-brother?" Rukia bowed her head, hitting Ichigo when he remained sitting. "I feel much better now, yes."

"Good because I think it best that we move you back to the hotel as soon as possible."

Ichigo was paying attention now, "Why?"

"Ichigo don't be rude," Rukia harshly whispered.

"This is for your own good Rukia," Byakuya's voice was slightly lowered, a sense of urgency present. "I don't like Rukia being around the family, especially since we have still yet to catch Nnoitra's partner."

"But I killed Tesla and the red gorilla idiot," Ichigo pointed at Renji, "was just a plant right?"

"Who's a gorilla?"

"No, there was one more," Byakuya said. "There's someone else that was the one passing information to Nnoitra."

Ichigo's feet took his weight and his hands balled into fists, "I'm going to-"

"No, I need you to stay and protect Rukia." Byakuya was shaking his head. "Even with sweepers watching over her, I feel that she is still unsafe."

"Sweepers? There are others?"

"Yes, Rukia has had sweepers watching over her, her whole entire life."

Ichigo's look of surprise mirrored the feeling that Rukia had. "Sweepers watching over me my whole life?"

"Yes," Byakuya pointed at Renji, "Renji was your babysitter for multiple years, your middle school home room teacher was a sweeper, your counselor at camp was a sweeper, your swim coach, English lit teacher, tutor and Nemu, were all sweepers."

_Have I ever had any privacy from this family?_

"So many people and I never knew about any of this until this year?"

"It was for the best Rukia," Byakuya had gone over and was pushing Renji from his hospital bed. "Let's go Renji."

"But," Rukia looked over at her brother, "why didn't I ever know though?"

Byakuya continued on shoving Renji, who was struggling to untangle himself from his sheets, "Wait, wait sir, I can walk now, I'll get out myself," there was a loud thump and Renji landed on the floor.

Byakuya momentarily met eyes with everyone in the room, "Let's go."

가자

The lithe figure stood, viewing the burnt remains of the hotel. The hands balled into fists, nails biting into the skin, in anger.

The plan was failing and all opportunity was fading. Tesla was dead, Nnoitra was captured and would most likely be killed. Soon, they would all die.

Heels crunched into the loose dirt of the ground and the figure got into a car, destination, the Kuchiki hotel.

목적지

* * *

_So the informant will of course be revealed in the next chapter and I think there are only two chapters left! Unless I can put it all into one chapter ... I'll have to see how it goes down._

_Any questions that I still haven't answered? Feel free to ask because this story is reaching it's end :(_

_Thanks to all you super readers!_


	20. Of Ambush and Atonement

_So this chapter turned out to be a bit longer than expected so now I think that there will be only one more chapter and maybe an epilogue or I'll combine the epilogue and chapter 21 into one chapter. I'll see ..._

_So if there's anymore questions, make sure to get them in :)_

_mamoru-usa8 - Aah sorry for the slowish update :( It's week full of quizzes and papers for me. But thanks for the review :)_

_Hatake Tsughi - Man I almost forgot about putting in the part where Rukia regains her memory! Don't worry it will fit in, in the next chapter I hope :0 and thank you for the review :)_

_Anna Haruno - I thought you would have guesses :) but it's okay because that means I did a good job at making the accomplice unpredictable! You'll find out about the informant in this chapter. Thanks for the review :)_

_Yuki no Ryuu-Ryuuki - Haha yes, there was some crazy boom kapow to lovey dovey action huh? Well, don't want to drag anything out because this story already started out pretty slow as it was but Byakuya is for sure a good guy in this story. The "bad dude #3" is revealed in this chapter. Thank you for the review!_

_Dissonencia Serenidad - I'm a bit unsure about the ending but I hope it lives up to the rest of the story :) thanks for the review!_

_SilverStella - I'm glad you like the story :) thanks for the review!_

_Camilla. Shinigami - I'm a Renji fan too :) I like him with Rukia, but I like Ichigo with her more. Yay, you think the writing is still good? I was worried that it may have been too odd towards the end but I'm glad you still enjoy! Thank you for the review :)_

_Ninjabunnyoverlord - No worries, Aizen is not the bad guy in this fic. He's the bad guy in too many stories and it become too predictable after awhile so I wanted to switch it up just a bit. Thank you for the review!_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Don't worry, the informant is someone that Rukia has met before, but she's totally revealed in his chapter :). You're dwindling on questions? Hmm, well I guess that's a good thing because this story is reaching it's end and I wouldn't want to leave any wanderings unanswered. Thanks for the review :)_

_Song: Burnt Around the Edges - Fool for Rowan  
*This song is done by my good friend :) she plays guitar. _

**Disclaimer:** As always to not own Bleach and its characters (or the FFR song)

* * *

안전 드디어?

"Sooo," Ichigo stared between the two people on either side of him, "Did you two already know eachother?"

"Kind of," Rukia answered before Renji could. "He was my baby sitter."

"Babysitter?" Ichigo snorted, "Renji was your baby sitter? How could that buffoon ever watch someone else, let alone a child? But then again, maybe that's why you're so short."

Bad idea on Ichigo's part, as the companions he sat between elbowed him both at the same time.

"We're here," Byakuya appeared oblivious to the raising levels of violence occurring in the back as he parked the car in the front of the hotel and got out.

Renji's hand paused on the handle and he opened the car door with clear apprehension on his features. With a cautious look about his surroundings, Renji exited the car and swiftly made his way to the front door of the hotel. He was speaking in hushed tones with Byakuya when Rukia made it into the lobby of the hotel.

"Yes, I noticed it too," Byakuya nodded, his eyes darting out the front window. Byakuya pulled his cell phone from his pocket, dialing a number in hurry and pressing the mobile to his ear, "Let's go up."

"What's going on?" Ichigo's voice of worry had returned.

"We need to get somewhere more private before we say more," Renji's tone was strained as he ushered Rukia into the elevator.

Ichigo's arm reached out to grab Rukia, making sure she didn't stray far from him. He didn't release her until they had stepped through the front door of Rukia's home.

"We're already being watched," Renji cursed.

"We're being watched?" Ichigo strode to the window, glancing down at he now dark street below. "Is it someone from the family?"

Byakuya shook his head, "Not sure, all I know is that we can't be too safe,we may have to leave again."

"How did this happen already?" Ichigo looked to Renji.

Renji shook his head, "I don't think it's anyone from the family. Nnoitra's partner must be the one behind this."

Ichigo made his way back to the door, "I'm going back out-"

"Stop," Byakuya's voice held a commanding force behind it as he closed his cell phone with a snap. "You need to stay here with Rukia."

"But, what about the person-"

"Hitsugaya and Hisagi are on their way here. They'll watch the front of the hotel."

"But-"

"You are to stay here."

"Like hell-"

"God," Renji grabbed Ichigo in a head lock, "Just shut up already."

"Renji, you idiot, what to you think you're doing?" Ichigo strained to say. "I'm a Sin, you're supposed to do as I say."

Renji laughed, "Yeah right. I'm not some ordinary sweeper. I only answer to the Kuchiki."

"Shut up both of you," Byakuya said as both men clamped their mouths shut. "Yoruichi was able to get some information from Nnoitra."

Rukia unconsciously wrapped her arms around the front of her body at the mention of the name. She glanced sideways at her brother who stood staring with rapt attention at the outer wide windows of the kitchen. His eyes suddenly widened and he whipped his head towards Rukia.

"Rukia!" He took one giant leap across the room and grabbed Rukia, hurtling to the ground. He turned, cushioning the fall with his body and curled her against his chest.

The air fluttered with shattered glass and with a grace all their own, Renji and Ichigo hit the deck.

"Rukia," Byakuya let her pull back her face from his chest, "get out of here. Go, crawl!" He released her and pushed her away from him, towards the front entrance.

"But Byakuya-"

"Go!"

Rukia rolled her way from her brother with one final look and with a fervor, crawled her way to the front door.

"Rukia," Ichigo was by her side, he crouched down, pulling her onto her knees, "come on, we need to get out of here."

With quick work, he pulled open the front door as fresh shots from another weapon broke demolished the rest of the windows.

Rukia stumbled out into the small hallway before the elevator, shaking as she got to her feet. "Ichigo."

"Are you okay?"

Rukia nodded her head, "But Byakuya and Renji."

Ichigo's hand covered her eyes and he gently rested his ears by her lip. "Do not worry about your brother and Renji. They're both pretty tough." He pressed the button for the elevator, trying to stop her from running back into her home, which had suddenly been consumed by a heavy silence.

"But why is someone shooting at us? I mean you and Renji-"

"We may not be able to be killed but you can," his mouth was drawn into a frown.

"My brother though, what if-"

He stopped her words with his lips, giving her an abrupt kiss, "Go down and find Hitsugaya. I need to go and help your brother." With a great effort, he pulled himself from Rukia's arms, shoving her into the elevator as the doors finally slid open.

"Ichigo."

"I'll be back for you I promise." He gave her a small smile and reached a hand in, pressing the button for the doors to close.

"Ichigo," Rukia kept the sobs from her voice as the doors shut and the elevator began it's descent. Her knees shook and she brought her hands up to stop her tears.

"Now, now Rukia dear, there's no need to cry."

Rukia jumped and whipped around. There was no one, the fine upholstery of the wall of the elevator met her gaze. "Wh-who's there?"

"Rukia, come now, don't you remember me?"

Rukia's head shot up, to the escape hatch in the ceiling, her purple eyes wide. "You?"

재회

Rangiku wove her way through the clutter of the top floor of the high rise apartment building across the street from the Kuchiki hotel.

"Where Uryu," she said into her headset.

"There's another side room up ahead. It's on the right side, in there. Hurry."

Rangiku nodded, motioning over her shoulder to Gin. He nodded and held up the semi automatic gun in his hand. They reached to the doorway, where shots could be heard, firing in rapid succession from the other side of the door.

Gin, his back pressed up against the side wall, gave Rangiku a look of caution. He slowly brought his hand down, twisting the door knob. The door was flung open and Rangiku threw her body into the small room, her sword drawn.

The two men before her, less than five feet away, each with weaponry in hand, were quick to hide their surprise and turned the direction of their fire to Rangiku. She ducked as she heard Gin's gun fire above her. She lurched forward, driving her sword into the man closest to her.

He screamed in agony and dropped his gun to the floor, his hand scrambling in desperation to dislodge Rangiku's sword from his shoulder.

The other man lay, heaving with difficulty, clutching the bullet hole in his upper leg.

Their pain was apparent but what caught Rangiku's eye was the quick dwindling of blood flow from the wounds. "Gin, wait," Rangiku kept her sword steady. "We can't kill them."

Gin lowered his gun, staring down at the two men. "What cha talking about darling?"

"These two are possessed humans. The only ones that can take care of them are their respective sins."

"So, it's the demons who are keeping these two alive right now?" Gin said, unsurprised that the two men before him hadn't dropped dead from blood loss yet.

Rangiku's face was pressed as worry, "Neither of these demons are my Sin."

"Then they are whose?"

"This one is an Avaritia demon and this one an Invidia demon," she said first pointing to the man with the bullet wound then to the man whose shoulder still held her blade.

"Demons don't normally travel together do they?"

"No, especially not demons of different Sins."

"Then why?" Gin pressed forward into the room and crouched beside the man he had shot. "Care to tell us what's going on?"

Rangiku pulled her sword, with no delicate touch, from the possessed man. "I'm not sure, but I could've sword I felt another person …"

As the words issued from her mouth, she felt rush of a bullet brush past the side of her head. With eyes wide, she turned her head behind her to stare with shock at another man behind her.

The man fell to the floor, where he began to writhe, hands clawing at the bullet hole between his eyes.

"The other possessed human."

Rangiku and Gin looked back at the direction from which the shot had been fired.

"Gluttony, how are you?"

Byakuya Kuchiki stood in the now shattered window of one of the rooms of his home. A gun, still raised in the last spot it had been fired, was held in his hand, a slight curl of smoke issuing from the barrel.

"Byakuya Kuchiki?" Rangiku rushed to the window and leaned out to yell at the man. "What's going on? These humans are possessed."

Byakuya lowered his weapon, his face darkening at her words. "I thought as much. Which demons are over there?" his voice carried across the two lane street of separation between the two buildings.

"Avaritia, Invidia and the one you just shot is Gula."

Byakuya ticked them off on his fingers, "We're still missing four of them then. Tell everyone else. From what I was told, Nnoitra had seven possessed human working for him, one of each Sin. Warn the others and cleanse that demon."

Rangiku furiously nodded, "R-right."

Byakuya disappeared from the opposite window and Rangiku turned back to look at Gin.

"Contact the others, we need to put an end to this once and for all."

가족 일

Hitsugaya paced the front lobby with unease. The hotel was currently being evacuated due to a commotion from the upper floor. Ichigo had called to tell him that everything was under control and that he had sent Rukia down in the elevator.

Hitsugaya wasn't usually one to worry, but he had received Ichigo's call almost ten minutes ago and had yet to see Rukia. The lines of people were almost completely gone as the final guests were being escorted out.

"Where is she?"

His body automatically tensed as he felt the threat behind him. He barely avoided the dagger that soared past his head. "What are you doing?"

A tall lady, with a blank expression, held up the long sword in her hand as she swiped out at Hitsugaya.

"A demon?" his sword had appeared and he caught her blade in a block. "Why a demon here of all places and times?"

"Hitsugaya?" Momo had returned from her search for Rukia in front of the hotel.

"Momo stay back."

"I can help-"

"No! You're not ready!"

He blocked another attack, twisting the blade and sliding his sword up to run across the woman's hand.

She recoiled, her blade falling and her hands clutched together in front of her chest. The blood poured from the deep gash across the top of her hand and the white of the bone could be seen.

"Why are you here?" Hitsugaya brought the tip of his sword to hover against her neck.

"No way in hell I'll tell you Pride." The concealed dagger flew from her uninjured hand and Hitsugaya pulled back, bringing his sword up to swiftly block the blade that had been aimed at his head.

The lady had grabbed her sword again and brought the tip of the sword in a swinging arc. The metal sliced the flesh across his chest and Hitsugaya jumped away.

"Damn," he was out of breath. He wouldn't die, but it still hurt like hell.

With unsteady legs, the woman got back to her feet, her sword still clasped in her uninjured hand. "Pride, I want your soul."

"You can't have it!"

Hitsugaya felt his heart jump as he realized it was Momo that had said those words. Momo stood between him and the woman, her hand held up. Across her hand, was the black intricate markings from her tattoo, indicating that she had released the power of her Virtue.

With all her might, Momo brought her right hand forward to smack the lady across the face with a full body slap. The resounding contact echoed and the lady's head jerked to the side.

"Momo get back," Hitsugaya grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. The possessed human across from him, slowly turned her head back to look at him. The mark of the Humility Virtue bloomed from her cheek, the black forming the number one on her cheek.

"How dare you," the woman hissed, bringing her sword back up for another attack. "Who do you think you are?"

She lunged towards them and Hitsugaya, not even giving it a second thought, brought his sword forward and impaled it through the woman's chest.

"She's my Virtue," he grip tightened about the handle of his sword. "Your damage here is done."

He withdrew his blade, and the woman slumped to the floor. The black of the number dissolved and the woman's wounds slowly started to disappear.

Hitsugaya stared at her a moment longer, "We have to warn the others."

"But Rukia-"

"Don't worry, we'll find her," Hitsugaya pulled out his phone, "And Momo, thank you."

긍지

Ichigo stood with Renji in the now ruined Kuchiki home.

"I'm guessing this attack has something to do with Nnoitra's partner?" Ichigo looked over at Renji.

"Most likely. Nnoitra's partner had seven possessed humans under his command."

Ichigo's scowl darkened, "How many people are out to try and kill us?"

"Too many."

"By the way, where did Byakuya go?"

"I had to go and kill a nuisance," Byakuya's calm as ever figure descended the stairs.

"You killed someone already?" Renji sounded a bit disappointed that he had missed out.

"Not exactly. I can't kill a possessed human."

"Possessed? You found them?"

Byakuya shook his head, "only three of them and only one of them that we could cleanse. Gluttony and her Virtue are currently taking care of it."

"Rangiku is here too?" Ichigo stopped in the middle of the current bee line he had been making towards the front door.

"Yes, all the Sins are here somewhere," Byakuya had passed Ichigo and was halfway out the front door. "They are all needed tonight to cleanse their demon. Wrath, it's time for you to go and find the Ira demon."

Ichigo's eyes darkened and he nodded. He paused, "So, who is Nnoitra's informant?"

분노

The thundering of feet preceded him and Kenryuu hurled down the stairs. "dammit," he felt the cold sweat of fear on the back of his neck and pushed through the side door. "Yoo Hee where are you?"

A piercing scream seemed to freeze time as he came to a halt. "Yoo Hee!" He recognized her yell. He was sprinting down the hallway, feeling the pull of his Virtue.

"Yoo Hee!" his voice was livid with rage as he found his Virtue, her arm hanging limp at her side, cornered by a large man with a crudely fashioned spear.

"Kenryuu," Yoo Hee's voice was faint, quivering and Kenzaki's heart ached at the pain he knew she was undergoing. "I've placed the mark, stab him."

Kenzaki tore his gaze from her eyes to assess the monster before him. A black number four stained the man's large upper bicep. The man's eyes were devoid of conscious thought as he wheeled about to direct his attack at Kenzaki.

"I don't have time for you," Kenzaki's movements were swift and with little wasted effort his sword had appeared and driven it's way through the man's thigh.

The man howled in pain and Kenzaki rushed past him, not bothering to give the man another worry. "Yoo Hee?" he dropped down beside his Virtue. "Yoo Hee, are you ok? Please be ok!"

With a slight smile, Yoo Hee looked up at Kenzaki, "I'm fine, I think my femur may be broken."

Despite his worry, Kenzaki gave her a look of confusion, "Right here," he cautiously touched her limp upper arm.

"Yes."

"Yoo Hee," he leaned back, letting out a sigh of relief. "Your femur is in your leg, this bone up here is the humerus."

"I don't find this situation very funny."

"No, that's," Kenzaki paused, noting the look of exhaust on Yoo Hee's face. "Never mind dummy, let's just go and get your extremely out of place femur patched up."

나태

Rukia jumped back and pressed her back against the closed door of the elevator to avoid the person that had jumped down from the top.

"Nemu? Why were you …"

Nemu, a triumphant grin across her face, closed the two feet between her and Rukia. She loomed over her and her hand snaked out to press the emergency stop button of the elevator. The elevator came to a stand still and Nemu's grin widened.

"Don't tell me," Rukia voice trembled, "you're Nnoitra's partner?"

Nemu raised one slender eyebrow in surprise but the smile did not fade from her face, "Rukia, you always were such a smart girl and now we meet again, or should I say we meet at last? Or at last you are meeting the real me."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Rukia, my sweet little friend." Nemu, not breaking her eye contact with Rukia, reached down with her hand and wrapped it around Rukia's. Rukia flinched as Nemu added pressure to her injured hand.

"I know all about the family. Byakuya just thought I was a sweeper," her hand was working to undo the bandages around Rukia's right hand. "But the family didn't protect me and a demon took over my body."

The bandages were falling to the ground, Rukia's hand aching with the lack of caution Nemu used. Rukia choked back the biting pains, "But how come Soi Fon didn't sense you?"

"Ah, you see, what Soi Fon senses is the despair and internal conflict between human and demon. I gladly accepted my demon, so Soi Fon could meet me and never ever be able to tell that I'm possessed."

Rukia's hand was completely unwrapped and Nemu pulled her hand up between their bodies to eye level.

"The tattoo has appeared."

Rukia's eyes quivered and slowly focused on the side of her finger of her right hand.

_Patienta,_ graced the outer side of her finger. The exact same font as Momo's, the same writing style as Yoo Hee's, the same position as Ichimaru's. _My Virtue tattoo …_

Rukia raised her own eyes up to meet Nemu's. Nemu grinned, victory on her face. "Welcome Patience."

끈기

Aizen stared with disgust as he withdrew his sword from the now still man lying on the floor. "Which Sin is left?"

"This is Hisagi's Sin," Rangiku pointed to the man that Gin currently held to the floor.

Aizen's hands clenched and he leaned against the wall as a pained expression overtook his face.

"Are you ok?"

Aizen gave her a weak smile, "Just the effects of absorbing a demon. They're coming earlier than ever. We need the Epistle's powers to switch soon."

"What if," Rangiku paused in her sentence, proceeding with a slight caution. "What if, Rukia is killed?"

Gin looked up at Aizen, his attention perked at his Sin's question. Aizen shook his head, "I have no idea but I have a feeling that we might all become mortal again."

"Mortal?" Rangiku looked to her Virtue, who turned his head to meet her gaze. "To be human again?"

"Yes, that seems the most likely outcome, but if we become mortal, the original Sins kept within our body will be released to wreak havoc with a vengeance once again."

"But we'd return to mortal beings-"

"All at the cost of Rukia Kuchiki's life."

선망

Nemu's hand shot down to her pocket as her phone sounded. She kept her eyes locked on Rukia as she brought the phone up to her ear, "Speak."

Rukia tried to focus her attention as she felt the elevator slightly jerk. "Fine, I understand," Nemu said. She closed her phone and put it into her pocket, pulling a long, thick needle from within her sleeve. "This is a medical needle." She dragged the point across the front of Rukia's neck. "One puncture, right into the right spot in your cervical vertebrae and your life is over."

Rukia scarcely dared to breath as the tip of the needle slightly bit into her skin.

Nemu's eyes narrowed, and she whipped around, turning Rukia with her and keeping the needle pressed against her throat as they heard someone land behind them in the elevator.

"Yoshino Soma?"

Ichigo's sister stood behind them, her eyes narrowed with a wrath all her own. Yoshino's mouth formed an icy smile, "Hello Nemu." Yoshino held her sword aloft, crimson blood trailing down the surface, "I hope you weren't attached to whoever it was standing guard at the bottom of this elevator. Unfortunately, that person was of my Sin."

"Tch," Nemu didn't seemed unnerved at all by the news. "So, I guess that means you can't kill me then."

Yoshino's eyes locked on Rukia's, her eyes trying to convey a sense of calm to the smaller girl.

"You're not a Luxuria Sin, or Invidia, Gula, Superbia, Avaritia or Socordia."

"How can you know?" Nemu snapped.

"Is the presence of my siblings swords through the flesh of you lackies proof enough?"

The needle in Nemu's hand had slightly started to quiver. "So, what now?"

"You're the Ira Sin so I can't kill you but-"

"But I can." Ichigo dropped from the top of the elevator, landing beside his sister. "Nemu Kurotsuchi? I never would have guessed."

"Oh course you wouldn't have," Nemu sounded close to hysterics. "You family killed my father and no one avenged him. You left him to die and I had to find out about his passing all by myself."

Ichigo's attentions sought Rukia as Nemu's rant of rage continued in earnest. His eyes seemed to flare in anger as the needle at Rukia's throat produced a small stream of blood.

"So that's what this is about," Yoshino held up a hand to still Ichigo as he made to get at Rukia. "How did you end up with Nnoitra?"

Nemu's hand still held the needle up to Rukia's neck, "Nnoitra is like Soi Fon. Some sweepers gain other powers when they are granted their skills from the Epistle. Ulqiourra had increased speed, Grimmjow increased power and Nnoitra, he gained the ability to communicate with demons."

Ichigo and Yoshino glanced sideways at each other, silently questioning if they had heard Nemu correctly. "Nnoitra can talk to demons?"

"Yes, and every time he meets up with one of you Sins, he was able to talk to the original demons residing in your bodies, the original Sins, the ones Byakuya Kuchiki captured and bound."

"So, why did he want the Epistle's powers?" Ichigo asked.

"To control the sin demons and with that control, he planned to someday free the original sin demons."

Ichigo looked at Nemu, as if looking past her or into her soul. "Ira demon, just how much of this woman is under your control?"

"No, I'm the one in control now. The demon didn't take over me, it's merely helping me to achieve my goals," Nemu inched the tip of the thick needle away from Rukia's throat and brought it swiftly to the back of her neck.

"Wait!" Yoshino unconsciously released Ichigo and he sprang forward with his sword in hand. The needle's course caught both of them off guard as Nemu's hand snaked around Rukia and the glint of silver whizzed past her head. Yosino uttered a loud curse as the metal punctured her upper leg. Nemu pushed Rukia away from her body and flung her sideways, against the side wall of the elevator.

"Rukia, damn." Ichigo shook her shoulders as her eyelids fluttered. "Just knocked out …"

"Ichigo," Yoshino was slumped halfway against the wall, the other half of her body supported with her sword. "She's getting away."

Ichigo looked up, listening to the sounds of footsteps from above. "Yoshino, take care of Rukia, get this elevator moving and find her brother."

His brows furrowed, he kneeled down on the ground with Rukia's body. He let her back rest against the wall and gently released her. He brushed the stray strand of hair from her face, letting his fingertips stray on her pale skin.

"Ichigo?" Yoshino had crawled her way over to Rukia.

"I know," Ichigo pulled his hand away with a reluctance and straightened. He hit a button on the elevator's control panel. The lights slightly flickered and the floor shuddered beneath his feet as it started moving again. "Yoshino," he nodded to his sister, jumping and catching the lip of the top door and hauling himself bodily upwards and out onto the roof of the elevator.

"Time to hunt."

정욕

Byakuya spotted the black car in front of his hotel, motioning to Hitsugaya to follow him. He stopped on the sidewalk as the passenger door opened and Yoruichi got out, pulling herself to her full height. Urahara exited from the driver's side. Yoruichi rapped her fist on the back window and Grimmjow slowly got out, hauling a semi conscious Nnoitra with him.

Ulquiorra exited from the other door, striding over, his face calm as ever, to stand on Nnoitra's other side.

"Damn what did you do to him," Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes assessed the bruises and cuts scattered across Nnoitra's body.

"He was being reluctant …" Grimmjow grinned.

"But?"

"We were able to find out that he intended to free the demons," Yoruichi said. "He's been trying to kill Rukia to stop the passing on of power." She looked over at Byakuya, "But would that actually work?"

Byakuya's grey eyes were vacant in thought, "Yes, the Epistle's powers would disappear, but the powers of the Sins and Virtues would not."

"But, then would everything continue as before?" Yoruichi voice sounded bitter.

"No, the Virtue reincarnation would eventually stop and no new sweepers could be made. Also, if a Sin was killed, a new one could not be chosen to replace."

Ulquiorra's hand shot out and slapped Nnoitra across the face as he attempted to raise his head. "What shall I do with this trash?" he looked to Yoruichi for direction.

She shook her head, "I think his use is over, let's kill him."

"You aren't going to leave the honor to Wrath?" Grimmjow chuckled, giving Nnoitra a shake.

"No, let me do it," Byakuya stepped forward. He looked to Yoruichi, "He's human again?"

Yoruichi nodded, an impassive look on her face.

Byakuya grabbed Nnoitra with a firm grip and threw him face down on the ground. "No use dragging this out any further." He pulled a gun from his inner pocket of his jacket and aimed the barrel at the back of his head.

Hitsugaya and Urahara pointedly looked away as Nnoitra seemed to gain an awareness of what exactly was going on. He turned, to glance back over his shoulder. "Wait, wait-"

Byakuya's eyes were steeled over, "Sayonara."

안녕

Nemu stumbled down the alley, finally kicking off her heels and ignoring the bite of the asphalt on the bottom of her feet. "Damn, Nnoitra you better be okay."

She stopped, tensed and reached into her jacket pocket, with drawing a needle. "Wrath, I know you're there."

"Good," Ichigo stood infront of her, blocking her pathway out of the ally. "I'm not one for surprises anyway."

Nemu felt her grip slightly tighten and raised the metal a minute inch. Ichigo's eyes followed the raise as she turned in a quick movement, the needle's aim pointed at his heart.

The tip stopped an inch from his chest as he held the needle in his hand, looking back to Nemu. He raised his arms instinctively in front of him, blocking Nemu's foot as it made rough contact, sending him a few steps back.

"Bitch," he swiped out with the needle, missing his target.

His anger quaked and his tattoo melded into his black sword. Nemu's lithe form was retreating back down the alley. "Nice try," she taunted over her shoulder.

He looked down at the needle in his hand, the intent clear on his face as he sprinted after Nemu. His hesitation was slight as he swung forward and the released needle lodged itself into Nemu's ankle.

She collapsed, gasping slightly as she looked with shaking eyes at the blood oozing from her ankle.

Ichigo slowed to a walk, laughing in bitterness at the now pitiful form before him. Nemu smothered her sobs, reaching down with a tremendous effort to pull from her ankle, the needle.

She looked up at him, the hate flashing in her eyes, "You sick, son of a-"

Ichigo's hand was around her throat and her picked her up bodily, lifting her body to slam it against the wall. He pinned her by her neck, unflinching as her head was bashed against the wall.

"You can't kill me," she wheezed as the red trickled down the side of her head, "Sins don't kill humans."

"You are not the one that passes that judgement," his voice was quiet, barely above a whisper as the added pressure to her neck caused her hands to scramble in a panic, trying to get him to release her.

"Killing another person is unforgivable," his other hand held his black sword. "Your time for payment is now."

He made no wavering in his aim and the blade of his sword pierced her eye. Nemu's scream echoed the narrow alley. "Don't worry Nemu, I'm only cleansing your demon now. This injury to your eye will fully heal but all the pain you're feeling now, is in no way going to ever fade from your mind."

Her screams continued as Ichigo swept his hand up the sword and the black substance began to crawl from Nemu. His tattoo was burning but he kept his face impassive. Impassive to the biting pain, impassive to the worry he felt for Rukia and impassive to the loud cries of agony issuing from the woman's mouth before him.

The black column disappeared completely into his tattoo and with little effort he pulled the blade from Nemu's eye.

He released her as he saw her eye start to heal and let her body crumple to the floor. "The pain you feel hardly can repent for what you've done to Rukia."

He clenched his jaw as a wave of pain racked his own body. The absorption of the demon had already hit. What was happening? Were the Epistle's powers that close to changing? He gave Nemu one last look and with a strenuous effort he pushed aside the pain and strained to start walking. Only one thought now occupied his mind. He had to get back, get back to Rukia.

"I hate you!" Nemu's hand was clamped over her eye. "No one is safe anymore, I'm going to kill everyone you've ever met!"

"So, I see it really was the human that was in control of such bitter feelings." His look of disgust was clear on his face as he glared at her over his shoulder, "You are a truly contemptible human."

Nemu hissed loudly and with a fluid motion snatched up the needle from the ground and threw it, giving a slight smirk of satisfaction as the metal pierced Ichigo's lower back, the tip protruding out of his stomach.

"It's taking you longer to heal isn't it," her breathing was still labored as she struggled to her feet. "I know the Epistle's powers have weakened and that you just absorbed a demon. You aren't about to just bounce back from an injury like that."

Ichigo's eyes flashed hate and he pulled the needle forward, out through his stomach and snapped it in his hand. "That's it," he turned back to her, "I was planning on letting you live out the rest of your pitiful life and not dirty my hands with your blood but now …"

Nemu tripped backwards and fell. She looked up, the quaking of her eyes matching that of her body as she stared into the burning eyes of Ichigo Kurosaki.

He brought the blade over her heart, his hand wavering in his uncertainty. Nemu looked up at him with teary eyes, her body shaking, her voice hoarse she uttered a single pleading word, "Mercy?"

His eyes held no emotion of understanding for such a word, "Why?"

"You can't," Nemu scooted herself backwards as Ichigo kept the blade of his sword near her heart, taking steady steps forwards, following her retreat. "You can't, mercy please. I know you wouldn't kill, you became a Sin to repent. You said yourself that killing another is unforgivable."

Her back hit the wall, her backward retreat halted. The sword continued in it's forward momentum and Ichigo slowly pierced her skin. Nemu looked down in shock, clasping her hands around the black blade as it continued deeper into her chest. Her hands bled and tears streaked down her face.

Ichigo pushed the blade completely through, feeling the tip lodge itself in the brick wall behind. He gave her a final look of pity, releasing his grip and turning on heel, "There is always one person that will forgive me."

하나의 용서

* * *

_So anyone see the whole Nemu as the informant part coming? Should I have offed Nemu or not? It kinda goes against Ichigo's whole "guilt trip about killing people" thing ..._

_Feel free to ask questions :)_

_Hope this chapter was enjoyable!_


	21. Of Plans and Betrayal: Epilogue

_AAAAAH finally :)_

_Sorry for the long forestally thing, type of thing. Just got a job and all and then there was midterms. But the biggest setting back point, had to be ... I typed out the whole chapter and it was all great and yay and happy then I do believe that I lost it or deleted it or something and just wasn't satisfied with the attempted rewrite :(_

_But I hope this last chapter is up to scratch and leaves the reader with the warm fuzzy feeling inside :) I know this story has been lacking in the IchiRuki moments, but don't worry there are definitely some in this chapter._

_Enjoy!_

_*** Note, there is a credits section in the story but at the very very end is a short epilogue :) and for the epilogue, if you've heard of Gundam Seed, it will probably make a bit more sense. If there is no Gundam seed knowledge in your artillery, just know that PLANT is like a huge (I mean huge, it has whole cities in it) glass structures that hold cities, and allow for humans to live in outerspace. They have trees, grass, road, houses, etc. etc lots of stuff!_

_* Last note, the name Lenore ... does it ring any bells with anyone that knows of the gundam world?_

_DeviantHollow23 - Thanks for you help in finding the story :) __ I took your advice and looked through your stories and Bingo! There it was! So great, and thanks for the review too._

_Camilla. Shinigami - Ulquiorra the back hander? Hahaha it works! Thanks for the encouragement and for the review :)_

_Mamoru-usa8 - thanks for the support :) and also for the review!_

_Llyssa-maiden - No worries with the reviews, any reviews are great :) __ also thanks for the new review too!_

_Sim-Chan - There's no reason to feel sorry for not review :) __ and I'm glad you liked the last chapters! And yeah, I picked Nemu too, because she wasn't really one of the center characters and Aizen wasn't supposed to be the bad guy in this fic, so someone else had to enter as the antagonist. Thank you for the review :)_

_Ur_Fc3 - I don't like needles either! Especially in the hands of crazy people (not that I've ever been around anyone dangerous that had needles … but I'm sure I wouldn't like it) and thanks you for the review Yuki no Ryuu-Ryuuki :)_

_Hatake Tsughi - Glad my action writing wasn't too corny :) __ and thank you too for the review!_

_Anna Haruno - Yay :) __I'm glad you liked Momo! And Byakuya too! (they're two of my favorite characters) and don't worry, Ichigo won't be leaving Rukia in danger again (plus she will be the Epistle after all). Thank you for the review!_

_The Purple Critic - Thanks :) __ I'm glad you like the story and thank you for the review!_

_OnigiriKami - Your review is very encouraging! I'm always worried that there's a lack of descriptive detail in my stories and the lack causes people to get lost as to what's going on, but I'm glad you're able to follow! Thank you for the review :)_

_Glon morski - Yay :) Your review is just what I love to hear! I wanted it to continue too but I'm considering a sequel of some sort or maybe a side story with one of the other characters as the main part. Thanks for the review :)_

_Song: Trust You - Yuna Ito (*Japanese song)_

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach in any way (or Yuna Ito's music) or Gundam Seed._

_

* * *

종악장_

Rukia was in a tunnel. A passageway of scenes flying past. Past events of a childhood that she didn't remember but recognized as hers. Past celebrations and memories of old.

It was as if she was approaching a final scene, a large window rushing up to meet her. The setting unfolded before her, Rukia a spectator in her own memory.

"_Come here."_

_A smaller Rukia, around the age of five, wide eyed with fear, slowly padded over to the older lady. They stood, crouched in a darkened corner of a hallway as sounds of a brawl could be heard from below. The hall stretched on, door lining the sides and pictures decorating the walls._

_The small girl reached out, immediately wrapping her small fingers around the older woman's thumb._

"_Rukia," the woman tenderly reached up to rub the younger girl's face, "Promise me you'll be a good girl."_

"_But mo-"_

"_Rukia you must promise me that you'll go with your uncle and do as he says."_

_With hesitation, Rukia nodded, the older lady's eye trembling with emotion as she pulled the small girl to her body. "Rukia, I love you and I promise that we will see each other again."_

_A door nearby flew open and a tall man hurried from the room, stopping as he spotted the two others._

"_Byakuya," the lady breathed, releasing Rukia._

"_I need to take her now," Byakuya said kneeling down and reaching out to Rukia._

"_Go on Rukia," the older lady pushed Rukia towards the man with a great reluctance. With slow steps Rukia stepped to Byakuya looking back over her shoulder._

"_I'll take care of her," Byakuya stood, lifting Rukia in his arms, "Be careful."_

_Rukia stared over his shoulder as Byakuya began to run, the lady fading into the darkness of the hallway behind them._

_Rukia reached her hand over Byakuya's shoulder, her fingers conveying her want, "Mother …"_

작별

Urahara stood atop a high hill, overlooking the town of Karakura below basked in the light of the setting sun. He looked down at the screen of the small computer on the ground beside him. A map of Karakura was displayed before him, dots lining the perimeter of the town. The phone in his hand vibed and with no great sense of urgency he brought the device to his ear. "Go for me," he said, pullilng his hat down further over his eyes.

"We're ready to go," Ulqiourra answered him, "The perimeter has been set and all the pieces are in place."

"Let's begin then," Urahara said, not even waiting for a reply as he shut the phone. He looked backwards over his shoulder at the man standing behind him. "Let's go Grimmjow, time to start the memory wipe."

Grimmjow merely scowled, raising one hand up, his pointer finger extended forward. "Shut up and let's get this over with then," he said as a glow began to appear at the end of his finger tip, a growing light emitting from his hand. "This should be interesting, I've never done a large scale wipe of two people at once."

Urahara's eyes scanned the horizon, recognizing the growing lights forming a line towards the outskirts of the town. "The first step is now underway," he mused, "but now I have another appointment of sorts to attend to."

기억 장치 닦음

Rukia was running, her feet carrying her down a dark hall, one that seemed to never end. No door offered her escape from whatever it was that she fled from and no light awaited her at the end of her destination.

"No!" she gasped, her body shooting up into a sitting position. She looked down in disbelief. Her hands clenched about the white sheets of the bed she now sat in and the white walls of the room around her resounded a note of familiarity. Somehow, she had come to be in the medical room of Ichigo's house. She grabbed her head, feeling slightly dizzy at the sudden drop of blood flow from her head. With calming breaths, she rubbed her temples, urging the memories in her head to consolidate and make sense once again.

A dream?

No, that was her and that was her past.

"What's going …" she made to get from the bed, but a hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Rukia, what do you think you're doing?"

A well-known jolt, of skin tingling excitement rushed across her body. Rukia's eyes trailed up the hand wrapped about her wrist, up the arm and into the auburn eyes of Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Ichigo," she whispered.

Ichigo sat on the side of her bed, staring at her in rapt scrutiny, taking in every detail for any sign of damage. With a look of slight relief he grinned. "Are you ok?" he said, a note of guilt resonating in his words. He rubbed the top of her hand, turning it over to interlace their fingers.

She mutely nodded, not wanting to share her returned memories with Ichigo just yet. They were a personal dilemma she wanted to sort through herself and she knew that when she was ready to share, Ichigo would be there to listen.

His hands swept their way up her arms, skimming lightly over her skin, causing tremors of thrill. Ichigo's hands came to stop on her neck, rubbing the delicate skin, his thumbs trailing up to stroke her jaw line. He cast a saddened look to the bandage adorning the side of her neck, covering the evidence of his inability to protect his love. "Rukia, I'm sorry," he said with a muted tone, "for everything."

"Ichigo -"

He brought his lips to hers in a tender but building kiss. Without meaning for it to happen, Rukia felt the rush of emotion and the welling of tears. She and Ichigo had been so through so much, all of which she never would have expected to happen when she had first met him. They were now here together and it ached her heart so much, that she realized the depth of her love for the man that was now kissing her.

Ichigo pulled back, his eyes opening slowly then widening in shock as he stared down at the lovely face between his hands. "Rukia?" he whispered. "Wh-what's wrong?"

Rukia rubbed her eyes, Ichigo gently helping to dry her tears. "I'm fine, just suddenly feeling a bit, a bit …" she stuttered to a stop, at a loss for words.

"Relieved but overwhelmed at the same time?" he offered and Rukia merely nodded. "Yes," he let his lips brush over hers. "Yes, I feel the same way."

He leaned back, running his hand down her arm to capture her hand in his once again. He reached up with his free hand and smoothed the worry lines that had seemingly settled onto her forehead.

Ichigo stiffened slightly, as if on guard, and before Rukia could ask what the matter was, the door was opened.

"Hello there kids," Urahara said in his usual non-chalant fashion. "My, my I know Rukia had been attacked, but Ichigo you look like crap too."

"Rukia does not look like crap, Urahara and like you're one to talk."

Rukia studied Ichigo more carefully, amazed that she hadn't noticed his drawn and weary demeanor before. His skin was pale, and there were dark circles under his eyes. "Ichigo?" Rukia tugged lightly on the hand.

"Hmm?" he answered her but kept his attentions on Urahara.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he didn't meet her gaze.

"Nothing?" Urahara was picking at the hem of his long sleeve, not even bothering to look at the people to whom he was talking. "You should be happy miss Kuchiki. You were asleep for almost a week and Ichigo here never left your side. So touching." Rukia somehow doubted that Urahara had really found the whole thing touching, he didn't seem like the type of guy that could be "touched" except maybe in the head.

Rukia turned her eyes to Ichigo, a frown on her brow as he in turn kept his gaze on Urahara, glaring daggers at the man.

Ichigo glowered, "Shut up Urahara." Ichigo got to his feet, putting up a protective stance between Rukia and the approaching man.

"Now, now Wrath, I'm not here to cause any harm," Urahara took a step back, to a safe distance out of Ichigo's reach. "I'm just here to offer you some friendly information."

Ichigo did not appear to believe his words but nodded at him, indicating he should continue, "What would that be?"

Urahara casually glanced over his shoulder, satisfied that no one else was there and turned forward to face Rukia and Ichigo. "Yoruichi's tattoo," Urahara said in a low voice, his words striking a note of seriousness, "the bracelet has been completed and the markings have begun to fade."

Ichigo's eyes immediately darted to Rukia's arm, left exposed by the short sleeves of the white gown she wore. He breathed a slight sigh of relief at the lack of ink running along her skin. His look of relief was short lived as his eyes crawled back to Urahara, a slight apprehension filling his words, "Urahara, what exactly are we talking about here?"

"Ms. Kuchiki here will be falling into the role of Epistle a bit earlier than we thought. The tattoo may not be there yet, but since Yoruichi's is fading, Rukia's is sure to appear."

Ichigo glanced back between Urahara and Rukia. "How long?"

"What was that?"

Ichigo reached out, gripping the front of Urahara's shirt and pulling him roughly forward, "I said, how long until the tattoo appears on Rukia's arm?"

Urahara seemed unfazed by the grip Ichigo held on his shirt, "I don't know, Rukia is only the third Epistle. It could be and hours, it could be days, I don't know. This is like a great new fascinating experience for me too."

Ichigo shook his head, releasing Urahara and shoving him away. "You make it sound like an experiment, a mere occurrence just for you to study."

Urahara remained silent, neither denying nor confirming the implication. Ichigo inferred the answer from the silence, casting Urahara a look of disappointment and turning back to Rukia.

With swift movements, Ichigo grabbed her small form, wrapping the white sheet about her and sweeping her up into his arms. He was out the door of the infirmary in less than a second, despite Rukia's voicing of protest and Urahara's words to stop. Ichigo ignored both, his legs swiftly carrying him out to the center room and up the stairs.

"Hey, Wrath where are you going?" Urahara's voice could be heard from somewhere behind them.

Ichigo's eyes were set in determination, he kept his focus forward, ignoring the protests from Urahara behind. Rukia reached up with a hesitant hand, clasping the front of Ichigo's white button down shirt, "Ichigo."

The scowl on his face was in place and a sense determination had taken over. He stared straight ahead, "Rukia, I promise you that you are destined for something greater than being the puppet of the family," he glanced over his shoulder, satisfied that Urahara hadn't decided to follow. With caution, he proceeded out the front door of the house and into the dark of the night, his attentions wary of any threatening movement.

Rukia kept her panic in check, she was with Ichigo after all, but she couldn't help but feel, that a great burden of sorts was about to fall upon her shoulders. She looked at her right arm, her eyes running the limb's length, meeting with no signs of the tattoo that would one day be.

Ichigo crept into the garage, finally setting Rukia back on her feet. "Stay here and hide, I need to go and get keys."

"But, let me go with-"

"No, I promise I'll be right back."

"Ichigo."

He was doing it again, rushing off to be a hero and leaving her to fend for herself. Rukia stilled in her forward movement, pulling the white sheet tighter about her shoulders as Ichigo released her.

He turned on heel, dashing back to the door that they had entered and stopping last minute to avoid a head on collision with the man standing on the other side of the door.

"Brother?" Rukia whispered.

Standing in the door way, and blocking Ichigo's path, was none other than Rukia's brother, a jacket slung over his arm and a silver pistol in the hand of the other. "Wrath," Byakuya Kuchiki's glare was as sharp as always, "I thought I asked you to take care of my sister."

Ichigo took a small step backwards, setting a safe distance between himself and Byakuya, all the while eyeing the gun. "Byakuya, What do you think I'm doing?"

Byakuya stepped into the garage, silently shutting the door behind him. Ichigo bristled, taking a fighting stance. Byakuya seemed unworried by Ichigo's actions, he tucked the gun into an inner pocket of his jacket and pulled from his outer pocket, a set of keys. With two steps forward, Byakuya reached out, roughly shoving the keys into Ichigo's hand. "How is leaving my sister alone, taking care of her?"

Ichigo glanced down at the keys and then back up at Byakuya, understanding crossing his features, only to be quickly replaced with his trademark scowl. "Che, shut up, Kuchiki. There's no way in hell I'm going to let anything happen to Rukia." His voice held confidence but his eyes held guilt.

A rare smirk appeared on Byakuya's face, "You better not, or else I'll smash past recognition, that pitiful thing you consider your favorite organ." And with that, Byakuya reached out, turned Ichigo around and shoved him back in Rukia's direction.

Rukia glanced at her brother, or the man that had acted as her brother for more than ten years. "Brother?"

He looked up at her, bringing his attentions from the growing commotion in the direction of the house. His grey eyes fixed onto her violets, "Rukia?"

She bit back her emotion of sadness, hoping that their departure from each other would only be temporary and that they would indeed meet again. "Thank you," she said, "for everything."

He looked a bit surprise at her words but smiled nonetheless, only to shortly afterwards fix his face back into his expression of indifference. "Here," he took the jacket that was slung over his arm and held it out to her, waiting until she came with slow steps to take if from him. Byakuya gave her a tiny nod of his head, "Go on, you need to get out of here."

Rukia nodded, watching her brother turn on heel and disappear out the garage door. He pulled the gun from his inner pocket as he left, glancing back over his shoulder to give Rukia one last look before sweeping from her view and into the night. She slipped the jacket on over her white robe, taking the sheet and wadding it into a bundle to throw in the corner of the garage.

Ichigo cast one last look in the door that Byakuya had left out of, a press of worry on his brow before turning his attentions back to Rukia. He held out his hand, letting his fingers close over hers once she placed her hand into his. "Let's go."

"Right," Rukia answered, still unsure of where they would go from here. She knew that she and Ichigo would be leaving, but where would they be going? She was just up and leaving, starting a whole new life.

Ichigo's grip on Rukia's hand momentarily tightened and he frowned, "Rukia?"

Rukia quirked her head sideways to look at him, answering with a simple, "Yes?"

"Are you …" he paused, taking a deep breath before finally proceeding, "Are you mad that I've left you alone so many times? And whenever I do, terrible pain seems to befall you."

Turns out that Byakuya's words had had an affect on her sin.

They had slowly started walking, Ichigo's head downcast, his hand still clinging to Rukia's. Rukia couldn't help but feel guilty. It looked as if he had been beating himself in guilt. He must have felt responsible for the harm that befell her when she had been captured.

Rukia stopped beside his car, pulling on Ichigo's hand to get him to stop. He kept a downcast gaze on the ground, an air of uncomfort in his posture. With affectionate movements, she raised one of her slender hands to the side of his face, running the tip of her thumb across the skin of his defined cheekbone.

"It's ok," she said in dulcet tones, "I forgive you."

"But-"

"No, now-"

"But-"

Rukia clapped both her hands to the sides of Ichigo's face, the slap resounding in the garage. "I said it was ok, so we are all ok, ok?"

He nodded, still a bit taken aback by Rukia suddenly taking control of the conversation. The relief was very much present on his face but his eyebrows still had a slight knit of worry in them. She attempted to smooth the troublesome hitch but sighed as the traces of guilt refused to leave his face. "I know you did not do it out of cruelty Ichigo," she said softly, "and you need to not cause yourself such grief."

"Ruk-"

She shook her head, placing her hand over Ichigo's mouth. "Now, we need to get going," she said directing her eyes in the direction of the keys in his hand. "We can talk later."

He followed her gaze, looking slightly confused, but then began to nod once again.

"Right, we should be getting out of here huh?" he found the clicker on the keys and pressed the button. Rukia frowned in worry again, but couldn't help but inwardly grin at the ability she and Ichigo seemed to have of being able to argue in almost in situation, comedic or otherwise.

He twirled the keys in his hands, coming to a stop before his Lexus. There was confusion on Ichigo's face, as he clicked the button to unlock his car, and found that the beeps came not from the Lexus, but from another car further down the line. Ichigo pressed the button again, following the beeping and pulling Rukia along with him.

"What the hell," Ichigo muttered, "what did he give me keys to?"

Ichigo stopped, Rukia almost running into him as he gaped at the car in front of them. This was definitely not a car they had had before. Ichigo slowly reached out, touching the shining silver surface of the Aston Martin Vanquish S now parked before him.

"Um Ichigo," Rukia lightly shook his arm, unfazed by the car herself, after seeing her brother driving it before. "Are we going?"

"Yeah, yeah," he turned back to give her a grin, "Your brother isn't half bad after all."

He walked around to the passenger side, opening the door for her, "After you."

Rukia stuck her head in, jumping back in surprise and stepping on Ichigo's foot in the process. "Rukia?" he said in worry, grabbing her by her upper arm and pulling her away from the car. "What's wrong?" he gently shoved her behind him, his sword dropping into existence, in the blink of an eye.

"In, the car … someone," Rukia said, trying to look past him and confirm who it was that she had seen. "I think it's-"

"Hitsugaya?" Ichigo practically shouted as the white haired boy poked his head out the open passenger side door from his position in the back seat. He cursed in annoyance and threw his sword aside, letting it shatter and disappear.

"Yo Wrath," Hitsugaya's voice was as calm as always, "Let's get a move on. Don't want the family finding out what's going on."

"B-but."

"Momo and I are going along with you, if Rukia was left with you, you'd probably leave her alone somewhere and forget about her."

"What-"

Rukia shoved Ichigo over, ignoring his scream of aaaaah before the resulting crash. "Momo, where's Momo?"

From behind Hitsugaya, Momo appeared, leaning out the door, "Rukia!"

"Momo?" Rukia happily reached out, grabbing … uh … hugging Momo's head. "Are you ok?"

Momo's with her limited range of motion, nodded, pulling free from Rukia's arms. "Come on, we can talk later, first we need to get you out of here." Momo said, her voice all business. She and Hitsugaya sat back in their seats, looking expectantly at Rukia to follow.

Hitsugaya reached at arm out and pointed a finger at Ichigo, "Let's go Wrath, get to driving."

"Why the hell are you two coming with us?" Ichigo asked, walking around to the driver's side nonetheless. With slight curiosity, Rukia settled into the passenger seat.

"We're going with you obviously," Hitsugaya scoffed. "You need someone with a brain to go along with you to take care of the future Epistle."

Ichigo shut his door with a bit more force than needed and glared at Hitsugaya in the rear view mirror. "How dare you say Rukia has no brain!"

Hitsugaya reached forward, conking Ichigo on the back of the head. "Like I'd say that about Rukia, the no brain I was referring to was you."

"Oh, that makes sense," Ichigo pressed the button to open the garage door, shifting the car into drive. "Wait, what the hell Pride?!"

동행자

They had been driving for hours, Rukia sleeping through most of it, only having stopped to get gas once and taking a break in another small town for a quick meal. Ichigo and Hitsugaya kept their senses wary and were constantly looking about, their eyes shifting from one person to the next. It turned out, that the family had indeed been planning on locking Rukia up in a room, at least until her tattoo appeared. According to Hitsugaya, they wouldn't be too angry that Rukia had escaped, after all there was no avoiding the passing on of the Epistle's power and sooner or later, Rukia would have to take on the responsibilities the title implied. The escape merely angered Yoruichi and kept her tied to the family for longer and for everyday that Rukia remained untrained.

Most of the family was split in their loyalties. The Sins feeling that the loyalty should lie with old Epistle that had maintained order for centuries but at the same time felt obligations to the new family's leader. Ichigo had no doubt to whom his loyalty belonged and with Momo's devotion to Rukia along came Hitsugaya's loyalty. The rest of the Sin and Virtues were still at crossroads, but from what Hitsugaya thought, it seemed that most of the Sins would not willingly turn against Rukia.

"So, what's the plan?" Hitsugaya asked once again after antagonizing Ichigo about his lack of planning things ahead.

"I told you," Ichigo kept his eyes on the road as he drove, "We're going into hiding." Simple as that, Ichigo's plans usually required more action and less of the planning ahead factor.

Hitsugaya was no as impressed with Ichigo's idea, "Yes, I've got that part, but where? The family is almost impossible to escape, there are sweepers in every country."

"I know," Ichigo huffed, "But I'm not going to let them lock Rukia away."

Hitsugaya scoffed, "Foolhardy as ever." With no lack of calm, Hitsugaya reached a hand into the pocket of the black slacks he wore and withdrew a piece of paper. He reached forward, slapping the post-it sized paper onto the side of Ichigo's face causing the car to slightly swerve off the road.

"Pride, what the hell?" Ichigo steadied the car and freed one of his hands off the steering wheel to take to paper stuck to the side of his face. He glanced at the words momentarily before casting Hitsugaya a look in the rear view mirror. "What is this?"

"Directions."

"To what?"

"An airport that a friend of mine owns," he said simply. "You want to go into hiding and I figure the best way to do that is to leave the country."

Ichigo looked down at the small piece of paper again, then over at Rukia who gazed ahead through the front window. "We're leaving Japan?" she whispered to herself.

"Hey," he said to her, waiting until she looked up at him, a slight look of overwhelmed in her eyes. "I promise you'll be fine, but if you don't want to leave, we can arrange a way to stay in Japan."

Rukia mulled over his words, her eyes on Ichigo, "No," she said taking a deep breath, "No, my home is no longer here after all. Wherever you are is my home now."

계획

Yoruichi threw the cell phone across the room, cursing loudly once again. "Urahara," she yelled, beginning to pace the room. She strode in front of the three people bound and kneeling before her. Rangiku and her Virtue kneeled beside each other, Aizen by Gin's side.

"Yes dearest," Urahara said walking into the large pillar lined room.

Yoruichi glared at him, attempting to calm her nerves, "Did you find them yet?"

Urahara seemed reluctant to answer, "No, we've lost all sign of them."

"What about the rest of the Sins?" Yoruichi's voice was full of anger.

"Uh," Urahara once again looked as if he didn't really want to answer, "No, we as of yet still don't have any idea where Greed, Sloth, Lust and the rest of the Virtues are. There is a pretty good hunch that Pride and his Virtue are with Wrath."

Yoruichi struck out, punching the nearest pillar and causing a large crack to appear and spread in the marble. "Why, why are they all betraying me now?"

Rangiku looked up, her lip still bleeding from an early interrogation, "We aren't betraying you, you are just no longer the Epistle. We are bound to you no more."

배반하십시오

Now that they had a plan, a really holey and crappy plan, but still a plan, Ichigo still had one more issue that he wanted resolved. A guilt had begun to gnaw at his heart and to be able to be happy with the woman he so loved, he had to take care of the remorse that panged him. He sat in the back of the car, Rukia by his side and Hitsugaya driving, Momo chatting away happily beside him.

Ichigo gave Rukia a small sideways glance, hesitant to interrupt the thoughts of worry that had seemingly taken up permanent resident on her features. With cautious movements, he placed his palm on the side of her face, letting her turn her head to look in his direction. Her eyes were weighted with deep worries and the amethyst color of her irises had lost their usual sheen.

"Rukia," he said softly, pulling her from her own preoccupations.

She slowly blinked, her eyes focusing on him, "Ichigo."

"I thought I should tell you something," he said in hesitating words, "about Nemu."

Rukia's eyes fell to the floor of the car, a feeling of loss overtaking her senses as she remembered her friend, or at least the person she had considered her friend. The one person Rukia had been able to confide in at her house, her companion when Byakuya had been gone and her caretaker for years.

She knew that what had happened to Nemu would need to revealed eventually, as a closure of sorts, but she was unsure if she was ready.

She took a shuddering breath, "Yes," Rukia said, her voice barely audible.

"I had to," he paused, playing over his next words in his head, trying to find the best possible combination. "I had to cleanse the demon and … end her life."

Rukia nodded, her mind connecting what he had just said with what it truthfully meant. She had already known, deep down that Ichigo would most likely kill Nemu, but the words from his mouth brought the reality to her suspicions. She didn't know what to say, was it an action to thank or was it one to reprimand? Did she even have a place to make such a judgment?

She refocused her eyes on Ichigo, taking note of his stiffer than usual posture and the feeling of edge that seemed to exhume from him. He was waiting for her, for her reply, her thanks, her scolding, waiting for anything from the person that was now the center of his life.

"I understand," Rukia murmured slowly, holding out her hand, palm side up. "I know you feel guilty," she curled her fingers around his, "but, please don't, because as I always will, I forgive you."

His hand tightened in hers, his posture relaxing under her gaze. "Thank you."

Rukia smiled, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything."

He looked over at her with slight fascination, before chuckling and pulling Rukia against his side, wrapping one of her arms about her. Rukia almost laughed at the moment they seemed to be having, only to hear real laughter occur from the front seats.

"Aaah so cute."

"So corny."

"Toshiro," Momo kindly chided, "That's not very nice. It was such a darling scene of love."

"It was corny," Hitsugaya stubbornly replied.

"Shut it both of you," Ichigo shouted, the slight tinge of a blush on his cheeks. He reached forward, freeing his hand from Rukia's, to make swatting motions at Hitsugaya as the car swerved all over the road.

Rukia grinned, facing forward to gaze down the road and into the unknown. She didn't know what Yoruichi would do once she found Rukia and Ichigo again and she didn't know when she would become Epistle. She had no idea how she would be able to live now, since a normal life no longer seemed possible and she hadn't the slight idea what the location of her brother was ...

Ichigo paused momentarily in his bickering with Hitsugaya, casting a sideways grin at Rukia. His breathtaking brown eyes held hers of violet momentarily, a hint of mischief behind them before facing forward once again.

Yes, Rukia didn't know where she was going, or what the result would be, but as long as she had the man beside her as support, she knew she could handle anything.

끝

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--

Credits:

Editors: Trzy, Trois (Thanks bunches)

Reviewers:

_Anna Haruno - love your questions, always had me thinking and pondering the answers._

_Hatake Tsughi - Great reviews, and you were the one that introduced me to 07-ghost (which I totally became obsessed with) thanks much!_

_Sim-Chan - My fellow lover of the title "little one," and a great source of encouragement, thank you bunches!_

_Llyssa-maiden - Yay for your reviews :) and you were also another that kept me on my toes and helped to develop the story. Thank you!_

_Yuki no Ryuu-Ryuuki - Your reviews were always so upbeat! And made me feel excited about the story too :) thanks mucho for all the reviews!_

_DeviantHollow23 - My very first reviewer! Great reviews, always unique and always fun to read. Thanks :)_

_Mikazuki Mitsukai - Ah, your questions were always so good! They were about things that I would not have thought of originally and helped me to fill out the story. Thanks for everything :)_

_NinjaBunnyOverlord - Lovely reviews, and I enjoyed reading your thoughts and that we both have boondocky places with lack of internet that we have to visit. Thanks for reviews!_

_Nekura Enzeru - So much thanks to you for all the help, insight and advice. You're a great writer too! Thanks bunches :)_

_Grace of Angels - Your reviews were so encouraging :) and I'm glad that you liked my story. Thank you much!_

_Mamoru-usa8 - Loved your reviews and the support. Still can't believe your crazy reading skills with reading all the chapters in one night. Thank you for the reviews :)_

_Green Eyed Tabby - I am so appreciative that you read my other stories too :) and that you left me reviews! Bunches of thanks!_

_SilverStella - Big grin for you reviews, they made me happy and kept me motivated :) thanks big time!_

_Dissonencia Serenidad - Glad that you stumbled across my story and left me reviews. You are super! Thank you thank you :)_

_The Purple Critic - Thanks for reading my story and thanks for the reviews :)_

_OnigiriKami - First off, LOVE KOREA! And thanks for the review and I'm super happy that you liked my story._

_TsugiNoMai - Another crazy reader that read the story in one night! You are amazing, for you reading skills and for the reviews that you left me. Thanks thanks :)_

_xleger sourirex - I'm happy that you asked about the story idea and thanks for answering my random questions. And of course, lots of thanks for the reviews :)_

_antonia.c - Your review helped to sooth some of my worries about not having enough detail to be ale to tell what was going on and were very much appreciated :) Thank you much!_

_star133 - You always sounded so excited in you reviews :) and made me feel bad about taking too long to update. Thanks for the review!_

_Hekka - Ah, yes I was always looking for twists to add to the story and good to know that they were appreciated. Thanks for reading :)_

_Ichi-Ruki4Eva - I enjoyed reading your musing and predictions (which were usually close if not spot on) good to know that readers are giving the story serious thought :) Thanks for all the reviews!_

_xikauai - Your reviews were great and were definitely happy causing :) Thank you!_

_MaRuune - Another lover of the "little one" and I'm glad you enjoyed the name too! Reviews were awesome and much loved, thank you :)_

_Emotionalcrack - Thanks for reading the story and sticking through it even through the crazy information overloads at time (sorry) and the reviews were wonderful, thanks bunches :)_

_lelouchgurl - Awesome reviews and great questions :) Thanks for reading the story!_

_blusake - Your questions were great :) and were a super help to the story and helped bring about a great story. Thanks too for the reviews!_

_jojovmr - Lovely review, keeping it short and simple but it was definitely much appreciated :)_

_xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx - Still enjoying the "it's so messed up it's good" comment. Really unique compliment that encouraged me to keep it unique and work hard for you reviews :) Thank you!_

_Allyieh - Good to know that chapters can never be too long :) and were encouragement to keep the details in the writing. Thank you much!_

_KuroiTsuki7 - Sorry for any confusions :) and thanks for the spell checking skill! And also for the review :)_

_kini6625 - Sorry for all the cliffs and unexpected turns but I'm glad you kept reading and left me reviews :) Thank you!_

_AvaLuna - I am so glad that you decided to read my story and thank you fore reviewing :)_

_chad001 - Your help (and review) was much appreciated :) and was definitely put to use._

_DanceOfTheWhiteMoon - I love the enthusiasm that was conveyed in your reviews :) and thanks you for the reviews too!_

_nightsky321 - Reviews were wonderful and much appreciated, thank you bunches :)_

_Sassymom25 - Haha I could totally understand your "start a story and run out of chapters" thing! And your reviews were great, thanks :)_

_AllShallPerish - Thank you for reading and of course thanks for the reviews too!_

_None93 - Sorry about putting off the whole reveal of Ichigo's virtue being Rukia for so long :) and thanks for the reviews too!_

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_anime fangirl 13 - Glad you liked the story :) and thanks much for the review!_

--

감사하십시오

* * *

미래

**Epilogue:**

Rukia and Ichigo stood together, staring out through the thick glass into the endless scope of space. The small lady took her husband's hand, running her finger over the wedding band that wrapped about his left ring finger. Her features were still that of a teenage girl, and the man beside her looked to be similar in age. Her body may have looked young, but her mind contained years of knowledge and centuries of memories.

How long they had been together, Rukia had no idea. The years had melded together, years turning into decades and decades into centuries. Every year presented a new challenge and every obstacle she overcame with the support of the man she loved.

Rukia smiled, turning to gaze up at the tall man beside her. If she had known what troubles would have resulted from meeting this man, would she still have been drawn to Ichigo as she had been and still was?

She faced forward again, her eyes unfocused on the walls of the PLANT. She knew the answer, without any doubt. Wherever he went, and whatever trouble would befall him, she would always be by his side.

"Where is Lenore?" Ichigo said, referring to their young, adopted daughter as he pulled Rukia closer, wrapping his muscled arms about her thin waist.

Rukia smiled, reaching up to unconsciously to rub the area, now vacant, on her husband's wrist. "She's out playing with the other children of the colony," Rukia looked down, glancing at the black markings peeking out from beneath the sleeve of her black, long-sleeved shirt.

Ichigo followed her gaze, reaching up to push her sleeve up her arm. He rubbed her tattoo, following the long line that crept down her arm and circled her wrist, "It's begun to fade."

Rukia nodded, looking to the black ring encircling her wrist. "Yes, the time has come to go and reveal the new Epistle."

새로운

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_Questions? Feel free to shoot them my way. If you leave a review with questions in it, I will make sure to send and PM with the answer :)_

_Sorry for all the cliffs and the long wait for the last chapter and any confusions and the lack of IchiRukia and anything else._

_I know that the ending kinda leaves some "open to imagination" situations, but I thought this would be best for this story, it leaves the reader free to choose how he/she thinks that the middle section of events went down between when Ichigo and Rukia were leaving the country to when they are seen once again in the PLANT._

_Thanks to all of you who've been with the story from the beginning, You are all awesome!_


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